


Talking and Laughing

by Sundance201



Category: Grey's Anatomy
Genre: F/M, Face-Sitting, Getting to Know Each Other, Love Confessions, New Relationship, Oral Sex, Sexy Times, Sneaking Around, Spanking, Teasing, Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:28:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 23,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25079893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sundance201/pseuds/Sundance201
Summary: Mark told Callie that he and Lexie laughed and talked for hours after she came to him and asked him to "teach her." This is just a glimpse of some of those hours, set from 5x10 and beyond.
Relationships: Lexie Grey/Mark Sloan
Comments: 25
Kudos: 182





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I love nothing more than thinking about the little moments that we never get to see on a show, so obviously my brain ran wild when Mark told Callie that he and Lex talked for hours and laughed that first night together. I have a few chapters of this planned out and ready to go, but am always open to suggestions. Thanks and hope you enjoy!

“Oh my god!” Lexie exclaimed, as Mark fell to his side, drawing her close to him and nuzzling her shoulder. “Oh my god that was…you were…wow.”

Mark chuckled, pressing a kiss to her sweaty skin. “Yeah, I get that a lot. You were pretty wow too, Grey. Didn’t think you had it in you.” He pressed himself up over her again and her eyes glimmered as she looked up at him. “O’Malley’s an idiot for not seeing what was right in front of him,” he murmured before leaning down to kiss her.

Lexie groaned against his lips and gently pushed on his chest. “Can we not talk about George right now? I don’t want to think about him. I don’t want to think about any of them.”

Mark grinned and nodded, leaning down again. “I think I can help with that, Little Grey,” he murmured, his lips brushing against hers. She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer as they kissed.

They continued making out until Mark finally broke away, looking down at her. It was nearly 11 o’clock at night and their activities had expended quite a bit of energy – suddenly he was starved. “You want something to eat? There’s 24-hour room service here. We can use it as recovery time before round 2.” He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Lexie laughed. “Yeah ok. Food sounds great. Just get me whatever sounds good to you.” She watched as he jumped out of bed and ordered them two cheeseburgers and an order of fries, before hopping back beneath the covers with her. “Why do you still live in a hotel, Dr. Sloan?”

He looked down at her incredulously. “Lexie. You’re lying in my bed, naked…I think you can call me Mark.”

“Ok, fine. Why are you still living in a hotel, Mark?”

Mark shrugged. “Seemed easier. When I first got here, I wanted to get back to New York as soon as possible with Addison. But then she didn’t want me back…I hung around, either hoping to get back into her or Derek’s good graces…didn’t know how long that would take. Didn’t know if it would ever really work, so I wanted to keep my options open. It seemed easier to just stay here rather than enter into a lease or, god forbid, buy a place. Plus, here I don’t have to clean up after myself.” Mark surprised himself with how much he had just shared with Lexie. She was just so open and honest with him – it didn’t feel like he needed to be guarded with her.

“A true bachelor’s dream! You still have a place in New York?”

“Yeah. I’m renting it out. But it’s still mine.”

“Just in case?” She frowned and Mark couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face. She looked adorable with that slight pout in her lip.

“Yeah…no. I don’t know. I don’t…know what’s in New York for me, anymore. I sold my practice out there. Addison is in LA and she doesn’t want me anyway. I still have some friends there and my dad is there but....dads are complicated. You know that.”

She nodded, sitting up in the bed, her back to the headboard and drawing her knees up to her chest. “Yeah, I get that.”

Sensing that their respective father issues weren’t going to make the best pillow talk, Mark switched gears. He propped his head up with his hand and stared up at her. “Do you really respect me, Lexie? As something more than a teacher? I mean....you were here for the nurses against Mark Sloan movement. You must have heard what Bailey said about me. The best thing she could say was that I was a whore.”

She grinned down at him, tucking her hair behind her ears in nervous gesture that he recognized all too well. “You made a woman speak. You change lives. The other surgeons…they save them and you save them too! But so often they...they take away. They have to take away to save. Not you. You add things and you can make a woman speak again and that’s amazing. You’re amazing. And I....know about you. I know your reputation. And that doesn’t change the fact that you’re amazing.”

“Is that why you came here tonight? Because you think I’m amazing?”

Lexie grinned and reach out to gently stroke his arm. “Yeah. Yeah, I guess it is. I didn’t really have a plan. I just...I don’t know. I don’t know what I wanted. I just knew I wanted to see you.”

“This wasn’t just to get back at O’Malley for ignoring you?”

“What did I say about not talking about George?” she asked incredulously and then sighed, looking down. “It’s not…it’s not about George. But it does have something to do with him. And Alex. But not them it’s more...it’s more me. I wanted to know if...if you could find me attractive. If I had what it took to...get your motor revving or whatever. Oh, that was a bad metaphor, wasn’t it?” Her face scrunched up in disappointment with herself.

He laughed. “Horrible. It was horrible.” He shifted, his upper body rising up off the bed and his fingers came up to her chin, urging her to look his way. “You taking off your clothes and asking me to teach you was the sexiest thing I’ve seen in a long time. You’re not forgettable and you are impossible to ignore, Lexie. Karev and O’Malley aren’t worth your time.”

She grinned shyly and Mark couldn’t help himself as he leaned up for a kiss.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. “Shit,” Mark whispered, jumping out of bed and frantically grabbing for his sweatpants that were lying on the floor. Lexie giggled and laid down, grabbing at the covers to make sure she was completely covered. Mark opened the door and insisted he was fine to set up the food himself, not willing to let Robert the bellhop get a glance at the woman in his bed.

Eventually Robert relented and Mark wheeled the food inside. Lexie grinned up at him, her head the only part of her body that was peeking out from the covers. “Oh my god, that smells so good,” she whispered. She emerged from the covers and looked around nervously, feeling strange about eating while she was naked.

Mark seemed to read her mind and grabbed the shirt that she had torn off him and threw it to her. She smiled her thanks and tugged it on over her head. Mark took a moment to admire how good she looked in his shirt, even as she started to dig into her cheeseburger. He grinned as he watched her take a huge bite. Oh yeah…Lexie Grey was his type of girl.

They ate in relative quiet, sitting side by side, their shoulders brushing together every so often. Lexie was about halfway through her burger when she broke the comfortable silence. “Sadie said that you stared at my ass.”

Mark nearly choked on a french fry. “What?”

“That was another reason that I came by. Sadie said that you liked me and that you’d been staring at my ass…I just…I don’t know. I wanted to see if it was true.”

Mark chuckled and took another bite of the french fry, chewing and swallowing thoroughly before replying. “Well she might be an idiot, but she’s an observant idiot.”

Lexie’s eyes widened. “Really? So you were staring at it?”

Without warning, Mark reached over and grabbed Lexie around the waist, dragged her onto his lap. She giggled wildly and straddled him quickly, one hand going to his shoulder to steady herself and the other keeping a hold of the handful of French fries that she was clutching. Mark’s hands went under the shirt to cup her ass, his thumb stroking against the skin gently. Lexie grinned and sighed at the soft touch.

“Oh yeah, Lexie. I’ve definitely been staring at your ass,” he said, squeezing her flesh as she let out a delighted yelp.

“Mark Sloan! I am your student! Inappropriate!” she teased, pointing at him with a french fry before taking a bite out of it.

He pinched her ass this time and she giggled, waving another french fry in his face until he leaned forward and took a bite out of it. “Oh yeah, like you weren’t the one who just came in here and took off all her clothes. I was keeping my hands to myself, Grey. You’re the one in trouble here.”

“Mmmm, you gonna spank me?” she murmured, shifting her hips suggestively.

His hand stretched out, covering nearly the span of her ass cheek and he rubbed her skin softly. “Yeah, I just might,” he said, his eyes darkening. Lexie swallowed and shifted again, feeling his erection growing beneath her. “Would you like that, Lexie Grey? Would you like me to spank you?”

Her breath caught and she couldn’t help the little whimper that escaped. Mark smirked. “I…I don’t know. I’ve never done something like that before.”

“It’s fun,” Mark murmured, trailing his fingers lightly now over her skin. “Gets you really sensitive. Puts a little bit of pain in your pleasure…it can be a lot of fun, Little Grey.” Without warning, he raised his hand and gave her a quick slap.

Lexie gasped in surprise and then almost immediately afterwards moaned. Mark did it again, this time his hand landed on her other cheek and Lexie groaned, burying her face against his shoulder. He gave her a few more quick swats before pinching at the now pink skin and Lexie bit at his shoulder while trying to contain her moans.

Mark chuckled, switching back to gently stroking his fingers across the now sensitized skin of her ass. “See? Lots of fun.”

“Oh my god,” she whispered, straightening against him and managing to look down at him. Her eyes were half open and there was a hazy quality to them. Mark’s hand came up to the side of her neck and she eagerly leaned in to kiss him. Her hips started to rock against his as they made out, until she finally broke away. She leaned her forehead against his and panted, her hot breath hitting his lips. “You are so good at this. Like too good.”

He chuckled and tilted her head slightly until he could kiss her again. His hands dove beneath her (his) shirt and ran up her sides, taking the material with him. Lexie raised her arms and they broke the kiss briefly so that he could take off the shirt and toss it to the side again. He grabbed onto both her shoulders and carefully rolled her beneath him, his body pressing against hers completely. Lexie moaned as he covered her.

“Mark, the…the food,” she whispered, vaguely pointing to their half-eaten cheeseburgers.

“Mmm, I think I’m craving something else now,” he whispered, a devilish grin on his face as he dropped soft kisses down her body, scooting further and further down the bed.

Lexie’s face turned red and when Mark was settled between her legs, she clamped them shut on instinct. Mark’s brow furrowed and he gently stroked the outside of her thigh. “Hey, you ok? Do you not want me to?”

She shrugged. “I don’t…no one’s ever. Well one tried. But he didn’t…like it. So I didn’t like it.” She bit her lip nervously and looked down at him.

Mark shifted slightly and placed a kiss to the top of one thigh and then to the other. He felt her relax slightly under his touch, so he repeated the gesture. “Do you want to try it again? Because it’s something that I really…really like to do,” he whispered, licking his lips as he looked down at curls between her legs.

She relaxed even further and let her thighs part slightly. “You do?”

“Oh yeah,” he whispered, taking advantage of her slightly more relaxed state and urging her thighs further apart so he could wedge himself closer to her. “And I’ve been dying to get a taste of you, Lexie.”

“Yeah?” she asked shyly, even as her thighs dropped even further apart, relaxing against the bed. Mark scooted close and wrapped his arms around her thighs, his hands pressing against the inside of her thighs to keep her open.

“Oh yeah,” he whispered, before leaning in and letting his tongue delve into her with one long lick.

Lexie immediately stiffened beneath him, moaning as her back arched. Mark just grinned and shifted upwards, pressing a soft kiss to the skin just below her belly button. “Trust me, Lexie?”

She nodded immediately and grinned down at him. “Please don’t stop,” she whispered.

“Oh, just try and stop me,” he said, smiling up at her before diving into her again. His tongue was relentless and Lexie felt like she couldn’t catch her breath. Everything just felt too good. When he slid a finger inside her and crooked it, stroking her like he was beckoning her to him, she actually screamed his name.

Mark took a break for a moment, pressing a sloppy kiss to her right hip bone. “What about now, Lexie? Do you like it better now?”

“I think…I think your tongue might be more talented than your hands. And your hands are-” she gasped as he slid another finger inside her and crooked both of them up this time, hitting her g-spot perfectly again. “Oh god, your hands are so good.”

He grinned up at her. “I’m gonna make you come in my mouth, Lexie Grey. I’m gonna lick you clean and then I’m going take you again and I’m gonna make you come on my cock.”

She nodded wildly. “Yes! Yes, please! Please, Mark,” she whimpered.

Mark’s head dipped back down, his tongue focusing solely on her clit and his fingers moving in and out of her slick heat. After just a few minutes, Lexie was stiff and screaming as she came. Mark kept licking at her until she weakly shoved his head away with a trembling hand.

He moved up her body and placed a soft kiss against her neck, knowing that she might not welcome a kiss right now. She turned towards him and immediately curled against his body, her hand gently stroking his side. “I don’t even have words for how good that was,” she whispered, her lips brushing against his skin.

He chuckled and nuzzled at her shoulder, running his hands all over her body as he gave her a moment to recover.

One of her hands brushed against his hip and then continued down his thigh, before traveling up his inner thigh and then teasingly wrapping around his cock. He groaned against her skin, lightly biting at her shoulder as she started to stroke him. “Grab a condom,” he moaned, bucking against her hand.

She grinned and reached over with her other hand, grabbing a packet from the box sitting on the nightstand. She briefly took her hand away to open the packet and then took a hold of him as she slid the condom on. He groaned again, his face pressed against her neck. “How do you want me, Dr. Sloan?” she whispered teasingly.

“Roll over,” he replied and she grinned, rolling onto her stomach. Mark grabbed a pillow and tapped at her hip, urging her to raise up just a little bit. She did and grinned as she adjusted the pillow beneath her, feeling his eyes on her ass as she wiggled around. “Oh yeah,” he murmured, smacking her ass quickly before settling between her legs.

She giggled. “So you’re definitely an ass man.” She gasped as she felt him enter her in one swift thrust. Burying her face in the pillow, she smothered her moans as he pulled out and pushed back in rapidly, before stilling.

He shifted onto his elbows, so his body was fully covering hers. Lexie moaned and pushed up against him, loving the feeling of him engulfing her like this. “I mean, I’m partial to asses, yours in particular. But I like everything about you, Little Grey.” He started thrusting inside her and Lexie’s head dropped again into the pillow, muffling her moans.

Mark reached beneath her and sought out her clit, circling it with gentle fingers as he continued to thrust. “Oh yeah, Lexie. That’s it. Come again for me, baby.” Lexie groaned her release into the pillow, shuddering as Mark continued to thrust inside her. “Yeah, that’s it. God, you feel good,” he moaned, before speeding up his thrusts as he felt himself go over the edge as well.

He pulled out of her and quickly removed the condom, tying it off and tossing it in the trash can under the nightstand. Flopping onto his back, he sighed and looked over to Lexie. He rubbed her head absently and she moaned, and then sort of wiggled her way over to him. Mark couldn’t help but laugh – she looked ridiculous.

“Normally,” she murmured, her face smushed halfway between his shoulder and pillow, “I would be mad at you for laughing at me. But you made me orgasm stupid.”

“Orgasm stupid?”

“Mhm. Like I came so hard and now I’m just dumb. I can’t do anything. I’m just a puddle of Lexie. I’m a Lexie puddle because I came so hard that my brain stopped working.” He chuckled and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

A few seconds later, her head shot up. “Mark!”

His eyes widened in alarm. “What? What’s wrong?”

“Mark, the fries are going to be so cold!”

He couldn’t help but laugh at the genuine concern in her tone. “Is this another orgasm stupid thing?”

She glared at him before laying back down, now more comfortably situated against his chest. “No. This is a very real concern about the state of our fries.”

“Right. Well there’s a microwave in the room.”

“Hmmm,” she seemed to ponder this for a moment. “Not the same as fresh, but I suppose that’s fine. The sex was worth the fries getting cold.”

“Do you want me to go warm them up for you?”

She shook her head and wrapped an arm around his waist. “Nope. Not yet. Not ready to let you go just yet.”

Mark grinned. He wasn’t sure if he would ever be ready to let Lexie Grey go. And wasn’t that a scary thought?


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mark and Lexie's first time in the attic. Takes place right before the scene in the attic in 5x12 "Sympathy for the Devil."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had a bit of a bad day today, so I figured I would combat that by releasing some Slexie sexiness into the world. Hope that you enjoy!

She slipped him a key when they were getting their clothes back on in the on-call room. He looked down at it and then looked up at her questioningly. “I want to go to my place tonight,” she whispered, looking down at the key sitting in his palm.

“I get off at 8, but so does everyone else. So if you come over a little before that, you can sneak up to the attic and just wait for me. If you park your car around the block, no one will suspect a thing.” She looked up at him, her brown eyes wide with excitement.

Mark’s hand closed around the key. “Lex, I haven’t snuck around like this in…a while. Are you sure you don’t just want to come to the Archfield again tonight?”

“I have the day off tomorrow and I want to be able to start my day from home. And I like my bed. I want to have sex with you in my bed. The Archfield is great but…” Lexie trailed off and looked down, sighing softly.

Mark tilted his head, waiting until Lexie looked up at him. “What is it, Little Grey?”

“Whenever we’re at the Archfield or sneaking around here at the hospital…it doesn’t feel real. I want it to feel real,” she whispered.

Mark reached out and pulled her close, ducking down to kiss her neck. “This doesn’t feel real?”

She sighed and lightly placed her hands on his biceps. “No, it does. It does.” She moaned as Mark moved aside her scrub top and placed gentle kisses against the skin he uncovered. “It’s just…I want you in my bed, Mark. I want you in my room. I don’t just want you in these places that aren’t mine.”

He pulled back and smirked at her. “Are you being possessive, Lexie Grey? Didn’t think you were the type.”

“What? No! I just…I like my bed.”

Mark nodded and slipped the key inside his pocket. “See you a little after 8.”

* * *

Mark wanted to pace around the small attic room, but he was afraid that someone would be home, despite Lexie’s insistence to the contrary. He hadn’t snuck into a girl’s house…probably since he was 20? There was a lot of sneaking out, of course, but not a lot of sneaking in.

He tried to remember everyone who lived here. It was difficult though, considering that Meredith took in what Derek called strays. He chuckled softly to himself – Lexie was a stray too. Stevens and Karev were here – he was pretty sure that O’Malley was still in that dumpy little apartment that Lexie had shared with him up until recently, but he wasn’t actually sure. That crazy intern…Sadie, might have been staying here too. And then there were Meredith and Derek. He blew out a breath. Those were the worrisome ones. The ones that he did not want to get caught by. Those two would be worse than an angry father or boyfriend or husband.

He heard a door slam far below and with it, heard the chatter of everyone filing into the house. He heard footsteps pounding up one set of stairs and then the door to the attic creak open, before racing up again.

Lexie threw open the door and smiled brightly as she set eyes on him. “You’re here.”

His eyes narrowed. “Did you think I wouldn’t be?”

She quickly shut the door and locked it, which gave Mark a little bit of relief. “No! No, I thought you would be but…I was also worried that…you wouldn’t. Or that something had held you up at the hospital or something…” She stepped forward and gently kissed him, her hands perching themselves on his chest. “I’m glad you’re here.”

He grinned at her and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her close for another kiss. “I’m glad I’m here too.”

“You didn’t go snooping through my stuff, did you?” she questioned, dropping her bag to the floor and taking off her jacket, going over to her closet to hang it up.

Mark chuckled. “No. Your privacy remains intact, Little Grey.” He sat down on the edge of her bed and couldn’t help the slight shiver that went through him. “Does Meredith know how cold it is up here?”

Lexie shrugged. “Yeah, but it’s better than the crapartment that I was sharing with George. And she’s barely going to charge me anything for rent.” She turned to Mark. “Do you want something to eat? I can sneak down and get us some snacks.”

She walked towards him and Mark grabbed a hold of her hips, pulling her in front of him. He leaned forward, rubbing his face against her stomach. Lexie’s hands went up to his hair, running through it as he lifted her shirt slowly and he kissed the skin he revealed. Lexie grabbed the hem and took it off, throwing it to the side. She straddled him, bending her head to kiss him. “Guessing that’s a no on snacks?” she murmured against his lips.

Mark chuckled, scooting back on the bed, one hand anchored on the small of her back. “I’m in the mood to eat something else right now,” he said, licking his lips suggestively and looking up at her with a wicked look in his eyes.

Lexie couldn’t help but giggle and smacked his shoulder. “So dirty!”

“So true. Get your pants off, Grey.” He said, tugging at the waistband of her jeans.

Still giggling, she moved off of his lap and quickly took off her jeans. She grinned at him and reached up to undo the clasp of her bra as well. She moved towards him again and his hands on her hips stopped her from straddling him again. “Might as well take it all off, Little Grey. You’re going to end up naked anyway.”

“You still have all your clothes on,” she murmured, pouting slightly and tugging at the collar of his shirt.

Mark smirked and immediately reached back to pull his shirt off, proceeding to ball it up and toss it to the ground. “Happy?”

“It’s a start,” Lexie said, her fingers slipping underneath her panties and sliding them down her legs.

Mark’s hands started running over her legs, starting with her calves, up her thighs, sliding over her hips and then up her side. They stopped at her breasts, gently squeezing and teasing her nipples. Lexie moaned, dropping her head back. But just as soon as his touch had arrived, it was gone. Mark was scooting back on the bed, not stopping until he could recline against the pillows. “Come on,” he said, beckoning her.

Lexie grinned and straddled him, her hands automatically going to his pants. But much to her surprise, Mark shook his head, and beckoned her with a curl of his finger. “Uh-uh, up here. I told you that I wanted something to eat first.”

Playing dumb, Lexie continued to play with the button of his jeans. “I thought you said no to the snacks.”

Mark growled and grabbed her hips, urging her closer to his face. “Come on, Lexie. Get up here. I want you in my mouth.”

“Are you going to be able to breathe like this?” she asked, with some amount of alarm as she slowly moved up.

He scoffed. “Lex, trust me, I will be able to breathe just fine. Get up here already.” He jerked her forward and she laughed breathlessly, carefully arranging her legs around his head. “Oh yeah, that’s what I wanted,” he murmured, his hands smoothing up her thighs. His hands moved closer to her core and his thumbs crept forward, opening her up to him. “Come on, Lex, just a little closer.”

“Are you sure?”

He chuckled. “Will you just sit on my face, already, Lexie Grey? I’m dying to get a taste of you down here.” Immediately, her face flushed and she carefully lowered herself down to his mouth.

At the first touch of his tongue, Lexie gasped and fell forward, bracing herself against the wall. This was one of Mark’s favorite things to do and Lexie felt like each time was more intense. She’d always thought that her previous sexual partners were pretty good, but they had nothing on Mark. The man was a legend for a reason.

And it was just the cherry on top that he made her laugh too. That first night, she’d been so nervous, knowing that she would just be another notch on his bedpost. She was fully prepared for that. But then…they had talked. They had laughed. A lot. And they’d eaten dinner and breakfast together. And she felt like the other notches hadn’t gotten such preferential treatment.

And then he’d wanted her the next night. He’d flat out told her so, even after telling her that it couldn’t happen again. And then the night after that, he wanted her again. And again. He kept on wanting her. And she kept on wanting him. And the more they got to know each other, the more they laughed and talked.

She was starting to think that maybe…just maybe…she was more than a notch.

“Mark!” she gasped out, a particular flick of his tongue reminded her that the man she was musing about was currently eating her out like a starving man. One of his hands reached back and pinched her ass, causing her to gasp again and then giggle.

“Shhhh,” he whispered, craning his neck slightly. “Don’t want any of the neighbors downstairs to hear you.”

“I can’t help it. You’re so good at that.”

Mark’s grin was positively wicked. “I know.”

“And so humble,” Lexie murmured, reaching down to pat the top of his head. She sighed and awkwardly moved away from him, flopping down on her back.

Mark immediately was over her, wiping at his mouth with the back of his hand. “Hey, what do you think you’re doing? I wasn’t done.”

“My thighs were killing me,” she complained. Mark’s hands ran over her thighs and grinned at her as he felt them tremble beneath his touch. “Plus, I wanted to kiss you,” she murmured, looping her arms around his neck and pulling him down towards her.

“You sure?”

“Mhm,” she vocalized, tugging him closer, until their lips could touch. Lexie could tell that he was surprised – he tried to keep the kiss chaste, but her tongue dove forward into his mouth, determined to forge into unexplored territory. “It’s not terrible,” she murmured, as they broke apart and her tongue darted out to lick at his lip.

Mark chuckled darkly, rearing back onto his knees so he could take off his jeans. “I think you’re delicious, Lexie Grey.” Lexie blushed under his gaze as he sat back on the bed, sliding his jeans and boxers down in one go. He threw them to the ground and in a flash, he was back on top of her, kissing her like his life depended on it.

She could feel his erection brushing against her thigh and Lexie suddenly pushed him away. “Shit! I forgot to grab any condoms. They’re all downstairs in the bathroom.”

“I’ve got some in my wallet,” Mark answered smoothly, moving off of her and reaching down to grab his jeans, searching the pockets until he found his leather wallet.

Lexie couldn’t help but giggle. “Of course you do. You’re like a Boy Scout.”

Mark grinned as he ripped open the package and rolled it onto his cock. “Derek made me go with him. That was really the only thing that stuck. Always be prepared. Oh and I can build a pretty decent fire.”

He stretched out on top of her, taking a hold of himself and brushing against her entrance. “Oh well we’ll have to go camping sometime,” she whispered, her nonchalant façade cracking as she whimpered when he brushed against her clit.

“Mmmm yeah, sounds good.” He thrust inside of her and ducked his head, swallowing her moan with a kiss. “You can be as loud as you want in the woods,” he murmured as he lifted his head back up.

Lexie moaned again as he started moving and Mark chuckled, moving down to kiss her again in an attempt to keep her quiet. “Lexie, seriously, the last thing we need is someone hearing us.”

“I can’t help it,” she gasped out as he twisted his hips just slightly. “You feel so good, Mark.” Lexie wrapped her arms around his back and pulled him down against her, so that she could bury her face in his shoulder, muffling her cries as he continued to move against her.

He managed to wedge a hand in between them and he couldn’t help but grin as he felt her sink her teeth into his shoulder as his fingers rubbed against her clit. She tightened around him as she came and he grunted, dropping his head to her shoulder, sloppily pressing kisses against her skin as he thrust against her faster and faster, eager to come as well.

Lexie’s hands dropped down to his ass and squeezed, before pulling him deeper inside of her. He moaned against her neck and collapsed against her as he came. He rolled to his side when he could finally catch his breath, realizing that he was probably crushing her.

Lexie rolled with him, so they were facing each other. Her soft, panting breath hit his throat and he couldn’t help himself – he cupped her cheek and pulled her up for a kiss. It was messy and uncoordinated and perfect.

When they broke apart, Mark reached down to remove the condom and then looked around for a trashcan. Lexie pointed in a vague direction and he smiled, leaning down to give her a quick kiss before getting out of bed and walking over to where she’d pointed, tossing the condom away. When he turned back to her, he couldn’t help but smile at the way she was looking at him.

“You’re like not even real,” she murmured, reaching down to pull up the sheets that they’d messed up.

“I think I just proved that I’m very, very real, didn’t I?” he murmured, walking back to bed and sliding under the covers. They were both lying on their sides and Lexie’s hands reached out to trail down his chest. “Wasn’t that the whole point of coming here?”

She smiled softly, tugging lightly on his chest hair. “It was.”

“And I still don’t seem real?”

Leaning up, she brushed a gentle kiss across his lips. “You’re getting there.” She pressed another soft kiss to his lips, before moving away just slightly. His hand was on her hip, gently rubbing at the skin there. “Do you want snacks now?”

He chuckled. “They’re all going to be able to tell you just had sex if you go down there right now.”

Her eyes narrowed and she nodded. “Hmmm…good thinking. I can sneak down to the bathroom first, I guess. I should pee anyway.”

“You’re really determined to get some snacks, aren’t you?”

Lexie shrugged, tilting her head for another quick kiss, before climbing over him and heading to her drawers to pull out a t-shirt and some shorts. “I haven’t eaten anything since lunch! And we just had sex. Of course I’m hungry. I’ll be right back, I promise.”

Mark couldn’t help but laugh as she snuck out of the door. Normally, he’d be reaching for his clothes, ready to sneak out before she came back. But that usual feeling, that need to move, to run…it didn’t happen with Lexie. He was perfectly content to stay exactly where he was until she came back with her snacks.

She definitely looked more put together when she returned to the attic, with a banana, two granola bars, and a sleeve of crackers in her hands. Mark glanced over her bounty and looked up at her, the confusion obvious on his face. Lexie shrugged. “I meant to get some cheese to go with the crackers, but then Izzie came into the kitchen and I didn’t want her questioning why I had so much food.”

She handed him a granola bar and set the crackers down on the bed, keeping the banana and a granola bar for herself. “Oh! Wait!” she exclaimed, digging into the tiny pockets on her shorts. She pulled out a handful of condoms. “Izzie pulled these out of the cookie jar! Thought you could take them as a replacement for the one we used. And I could keep some of them up here for next time.”

Mark propped himself up, his hand cradling the side of his head as Lexie sat down on the edge of the bed. “Why…were there condoms in the cookie jar?”

Lexie shrugged. “Because there were? There are condoms all over this house. It’s like…actually kind of disgusting when you think about it because that probably means that people are having sex…all over.” She wrinkled her nose and then shrugged again, turning her attention to her banana.

“You got that just to torture me, didn’t you?” he asked, nodding towards the banana. He unwrapped the granola bar and took a bite.

Lexie smiled over at him innocently. “What? I have no idea what you mean, Dr. Sloan. I just happen to like bananas.” She giggled, setting the peeled banana against her lips, licking around the top of it suggestively.

“Tease,” Mark accused, reaching over to pinch her hip.

Lexie giggled and took a bite of the banana. “Guilty as charged.”

She eventually made her way back under the covers and the two of them sat next to each other, slowly munching away at the snacks and talking quietly about whatever came to mind. Mark noticed that Lexie’s sentences had grown more and more disjointed and her eyes were struggling to stay open. She leaned against him briefly for a few seconds, before jerking back upright.

He grinned softly at her. “Lexie, why don’t you just go to sleep?”

She shrugged. “Seems rude. You’re my guest here and you’re not falling asleep. So I can’t fall asleep.”

“What if we both sleep?”

She chewed on her lip. “But…but when do you need to leave?”

It was his turn to shrug now. “We can set an alarm for 3am or something. I’ll sneak out while everyone’s asleep.”

She sighed in relief and her tired eyes looked a little bit brighter. “Ok! Yeah…we can do that.” She reached over for the alarm clock on her nightstand and set it to go off at 3am. She groaned, flopping back onto the bed. “3am sounds like a terrible time to wake up, but I guess it makes sense.”

He leaned down to gently kiss her, before lying down fully beside her. Lexie immediately scooted closer and Mark draped an arm over her waist. “Thank you, Mark. Thank you for coming here.”

He bent his head and dropped a soft kiss to her hair. She made a soft noise of approval against his skin. “Anytime, Lex.”

When the alarm went off at 3, they both groaned and Lexie’s arm shot out, flailing and trying to hit the “off” button. “Oh god it’s so early,” she whispered. “Are you sure you can drive back home?”

Mark yawned and then nodded, rubbing at his eyes. “Yeah. My car’s parked two blocks away. The walk there will wake me up enough.” Just then, they heard voices floating up from down below. “Are you fucking kidding me? They’re still up?”

Lexie shrugged. “We can make out until they go to bed. I’m too tired to have sex again.”

Mark looked down at her and grinned, before pulling her on top of him. “God, you have some good ideas, Lexie Grey.”

45 minutes later, there were still voices downstairs. Mark had gotten up to put his pants back on, in hopes that he could actually leave soon. Lexie watched as he walked around the room, still shirtless. She was much more awake now, for multiple reasons. He walked over to the door, cautiously opening it and listening to the voices that were still going strong downstairs.

“Why do you have to live in Meredith’s attic? How am I supposed to sneak outta here with that frat party downstairs? Don’t you kids ever sleep?”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mark and Lexie get to talk and laugh some more...since it's the only thing they can do after Lexie broke Mark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter and the next take place after 5x14 and were some of my favorites to write. I've always really liked thinking about those six weeks and how they spent their time together. Hope that you enjoy! Please let me know what you think!

“Dr. Sloan, good news!” Owen Hunt declared as he walked into the room. “You’re being discharged. But you need someone to drive you home and look after you for the night. I’m guessing you’ll want me to call Torres?”

Mark licked his lips slowly, as if in thought, and then carefully shook his head. “No uh…but I have someone.”

Owen’s eyes narrowed. “Mark, you know as well as I do that I can’t let you go until that someone signs the release papers.”

He sighed and closed his eyes, tilting his head up. “Lexie Grey,” he whispered.

Owen’s eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his skull. “I’m sorry, I must have misheard-”

“No, Hunt, I think you heard me just fine,” Mark growled. He opened his eyes and looked at Owen. “She’s in the lounge just down the hall doing some charting. She’s waiting for you to release me.” He sighed and looked down. “Please don’t say anything to anyone. We don’t…we’re keeping it quiet.”

“You think sneaking around in on-call rooms is keeping it quiet?”

Mark glared at Owen and the other man just chuckled and raised his hands up in surrender. “I will keep my mouth shut, I swear. But you’re out of commission for six weeks, Sloan. You don’t want to risk reinjury. I’ll be telling Lexie the same.”

Mark just nodded and looked away, which Owen took to mean that he was done talking.

Owen exited the room and moved down the hallway to the lounge, where sure enough, Lexie Grey was sitting at a table, charting. Her leg was bouncing up and down and she seemed to be only halfway paying attention to what she was doing. Her head shot up the second that Owen rapped gently on the door frame. “Dr. Hunt! Can I help you with anything? Is everything ok?”

Owen came in and sat down beside her. “Everything’s fine. He’s being discharged. He said to come to you to sign the papers?” He pushed the clipboard towards her. Lexie nodded and quickly scribbled out her signature. “No intimate contact for six weeks, Dr. Grey.”

She nodded. “I know.”

“That means everything, hands, mouths…”

Lexie was bright red. “I know, Dr. Hunt. I won’t. We won’t. I can’t hurt him again. We won’t,” she said firmly.

Owen nodded. “Alright.”

“I’m going to go get my car…can you take him back to the back ambulance bay? I don’t…I don’t want anyone to see him leaving. Or see him getting into my car. Is that ok? Can you help him get back there?” Lexie asked nervously, reaching over for her purse and fishing around for her keys.

“Yeah. Of course. We’ll meet you back there in a couple of minutes,” Owen said. Lexie triumphantly held up her keys and then smiled at Owen.

“Thank you, Dr. Hunt. Thank you for taking care of him.”

“All in a day’s work, Dr. Grey.”

* * *

The ride back to the Archfield was silent. Lexie had turned on the radio to try and fill the silence, but it somehow only made it more noticeable. She pulled through to the hotel’s entrance and let the valet take her car as she helped Mark up to his room. It was weird to see her beat-up Honda Civic being driven by the Archfield valet…it didn’t quite fit in like Mark’s BMW.

“Lex,” he said as they got to the room. “You know you don’t have to stay, right? I can take care of myself tonight.”

She shook her head firmly. “No. You were released into my care. I would be remiss in my duties if I abandoned you tonight.”

“Lexie-”

“You’re...hurt. I hurt you. And I want to take care of you. Because I feel guilty but also because....I care about you, Mark. So please don’t try and get me to go away. I’m staying here. I’m taking care of you. Ok?”

He couldn’t help but smile at her. He nodded. “Ok.”

“Good. Now go and change into some pajamas. We’re going to go to sleep and we’re only going to sleep. I promised Dr. Hunt that we would keep our hands off each other for six weeks,” she said sternly, and Mark couldn’t help but laugh a little bit.

“Yes ma’am,” he teased, heading over to the drawers in the room.

The next morning, he woke up with Lexie pressed against him, like she usually was. He groaned softly. The next six weeks were going to suck. But he supposed even though he couldn’t get any action, that didn’t mean that he couldn’t take care of her. He loved giving Lexie pleasure and figured that there was no reason why that had to stop just because he was out of commission.

His hand trailed down her thigh, rubbing at the sleep-warmed skin. He leaned forward and nuzzled at her neck, placing gentle and then not so gentle kisses there. Lexie moaned, waking up slowly, and she stretched against him happily. His hand slipped to the inside of her thigh, traveling up towards the edge of her underwear.

He bent his head to kiss her and he could feel her grin against him as she fully woke up. But then, he felt her hand encircle his wrist, pulling him away from her. “You don’t have to do that,” she whispered, her lips still touching his.

“But I want to take care of you,” he replied, trying to touch her again, but her grip was strong.

Lexie shook her head. “It’s ok. If I can’t reciprocate…it’s not as much fun,” she said, nuzzling against his cheek.

Mark’s hand rested on her hip and she made a contented noise, curling up beside him again. “Why did you stay last night then?” he asked, feeling genuinely confused. Women didn’t just stay if sex wasn’t on the table. And he’d never really wanted them to…but something with Lexie was different. He didn’t mind if she stayed, but he didn’t understand why she would want to. Maybe she just felt guilty for hurting him and was trying to assuage her conscience.

But Lexie sat up and frowned as she looked down at him. “You were released into my care, Mark. I wasn’t about to just leave you.”

“But…you know I would have been fine. You could have left. And now you won’t let me touch you. So what gives, Lex?”

She scoffed and shook her head. “Mark...I don’t just like the sex. I mean, I love the sex. You’re really good at sex. But...I like YOU. I like spending time with you. And even if we can’t have sex, I still want to be around you. I know that Dr. Torres told you this before, that you’re good for more than sex, Mark, but....I mean it. Just because your penis is out of commission right now doesn’t mean that the rest of you is useless. You make me laugh and I like just...being around you. Spending time with you. Because I like you, Mark. I like you a lot. And I like your penis a lot but I like your brain even more. And your smile. And your laugh. I like all of you. A lot. So if you want me to go, then just tell me but don’t think that I’m staying here because I pity you or because I’m using you or something. I just....like you, Mark.”

She trailed off and looked down, nervously tucking her hair behind her ears. Mark sat up and hooked a finger under her chin, urging her to look up at him. “Hey. I like you too, Lexie.”

“Yeah?” she said shyly.

He chuckled. “Yeah.” He leaned in to gently kiss her and he could feel her smile against his lips. “If anyone else had broken my penis, I would have never wanted to see them again. But…I’m glad you’re here. Because I like you too.”

She grinned brightly, leaning forward to kiss him again. They kissed for a few minutes, but Lexie kept the kisses deliberately light and teasing, not quite enough to rile him up. It was definitely going to be a long six weeks, but somehow, he wasn’t dreading it as much as he originally thought he would.

When they broke apart, Lexie grinned brightly at him. “Do you want to go out for breakfast? I could take you somewhere that I used to go when I was younger – it’s not super close to the hospital, so we won’t run into anyone we know.”

Mark couldn’t help but grin back at her. “Yeah. That sounds perfect, Lex.”

* * *

The diner was about 35 minutes away from the Archfield, in a suburb close to where Lexie grew up. Mark couldn’t help but smile at her as she grabbed his hand when they walked in the door. The diner had a retro vibe and Lexie immediately led him back to one of the red vinyl booths in the corner. “Best people watching booth,” she murmured conspiratorially. “You can see almost the entire diner from here.”

Mark grabbed two of the menus from the holder at the end of the table and handed one to Lexie, even though he had an idea that she probably got the same thing whenever she came here. “It’s a shame that we’re here for breakfast, they have the best milkshakes,” Lexie said as she perused the menu.

Mark smiled. “We can always come back. I think we’re going to feel pretty cooped up the next six weeks without….other activities to occupy our time. There’s not much to do just in the attic or the hotel room.”

Lexie nodded. “True. There’s a lot that we could do around the city and just outside of it. I can take you around to all the local haunts.”

She glanced down at the menu and Mark couldn’t help but continue to look at her. Lexie Grey baffled him. Usually if a woman was casually planning out the next six weeks of their lives, with a guarantee of absolutely no sex in that time frame, he would have been out of there like a shot. But with Lexie, it sounded….nice. He was looking forward to seeing where she grew up and spending time with her, just….her. Outside of the hotel or Meredith’s attic or the hospital.

He didn’t feel an urge to bolt. He thought that maybe he should, but he didn’t and that felt ok. Being with her just felt…right.

* * *

Breakfast was pretty great, just as Lexie had promised. As they walked out, he slung an arm around her shoulders and Lexie grinned up at him, wrapping her arm around his waist. “You want to go walk around a little bit? You can show me all the places you got into trouble?” Mark offered, looking down at her.

Lexie grinned and nodded, steering him left, towards the town, instead of right, back towards the parking lot and her car.

“I worked in that flower shop in high school. My mom’s best friend owned it. It was fun. I got to do bouquets and flower arrangements sometimes,” Lexie said, pointing at a store front. She then looked across the street. “That’s a movie theater. Spent a lot of time there. Had my first kiss there.”

“Mmm,” Mark murmured, lowering his head to gently kiss her. They stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and Lexie’s hold on him tightened a little bit as they stood there, kissing outside on the sidewalk at 10am.

When they broke apart, she looked up at him with a goofy grin. “Bobby Adams was definitely not as good of a kisser as you. He cut my lip with his braces.” Mark laughed and shook his head as they kept walking down the street.

She led him to a park and they sat down on a bench under a big tree. Lexie cuddled up against his side and he squeezed her shoulder gently. “What was living in New York like? I’ve been there twice – once with my sister and mom and aunt and the other time was for a school trip. I’ve never been there as an adult.”

Mark shrugged. “There’s always something to do in New York. I was always busy…there’s a lot of money there and rich people never want to look old.” He looked down at her, smiling as Lexie reached up and threaded her fingers with his hand that was hanging off of her shoulder. “Lots of museums…lots of great restaurants.”

“You spent all your time either in surgery or in someone’s bed, didn’t you?” Lexie murmured, bumping against him lightly.

“I went to the museums when I was younger!”

Mark grinned as Lexie laughed and shook her head. “I’d love to go there sometime. It seems like such a great city. So much to do and see…”

“We should go sometime.” The suggestion flew out of his mouth before he even realized what he was saying. But he didn’t want to take it back. Lexie’s eyes, wide and surprised, flew up to meet his.

“Yeah, I’d…I’d love that. I mean I don’t know the next time that I’d have that much time away from the hospital, but…I’d love that.”

They were quiet for a moment after that, looking out over the park and all the people that were gathered there. “How old were you when you met Dr. Shepherd?”

“Six years old. We got into a fight on the playground over a basketball.”

“Of course you did!” Lexie replied, giggling – picturing a little Mark and a little Derek fighting.

“We got over it,” he murmured, and she smirked as if to say ‘well duh.’

“Mrs. Shepherd really cares for you, you know? I didn’t talk to her very long while she was here, but the fact that she came to talk to me at all…she loves you like she loves Derek.”

Mark nodded. “The Shepherds have always been good to me. They’re more of my family than my actual family.”

Lexie tightened her grip on his fingers and he looked over at her. “You told me once that dads were complicated…You know about mine.” Mark nodded and Lexie continued on. “What makes yours complicated?”

Mark sighed and was quiet for a few moments. He hated talking about his family. But something about telling Lexie about his family made it seem…not so bad.

But Lexie mistook his thoughtfulness for a reluctance to talk and she quickly backtracked. “You don’t have to tell me! But I just…complain about my life all the time and you listen. I just wanted to…listen to you, for once.”

Mark ducked his head slightly, leaning into her for a quick kiss. She grinned softly at him when he pulled away.

He took a deep breath and looked down at his lap, unwilling to look at her big brown eyes as he told his sob story. “They...my parents, they didn’t really want me. They had their own busy lives and I think....I think I was a mistake. Or a trophy. Or something. I don’t know. I wasn’t their son. They left me alone a lot. Big brownstone in Manhattan and it was just me and my nanny for a lot of my life. And my mom died when I was still pretty young and my dad took her death pretty hard…had even less interest in being a dad than before. The Shepherds...they took me in. They raised me because my parents wouldn’t. I owe them everything.”

“And that’s why…you wanted to keep this quiet. You don’t want to lose Derek again?”

Mark blew out a breath and he nodded. “Yeah.”

“You can walk away, you know,” Lexie whispered. “I don’t…I don’t want to come between you two. He’s your family.”

“I’m a grown man, Lex. Derek can’t dictate who I get involved with. Besides…now that I’m out of commission for six weeks, it’s not like I’m going to be wooing anyone else any time soon.”

Lexie giggled, leaning into him. “Oh so you’re just biding your time with me for six weeks then? You don’t think your sparkling personality can win someone else over?”

“Nah,” he said, grinning. “Too much work. I’ve already got you on the line.” Lexie returned his grin and tilted her head up at him, silently asking for a kiss. Mark bent his head, kissing her gently, giving away the teasing in his words. They simply smiled at one another for a second or two after they broke apart.

Lexie turned her head, resting it on his shoulder as she looked out at the park. “It’s nice to get out of the hospital sometimes. I feel like I forget that there’s a world beyond the hospital walls, you know? This is nice.”

He looked down at her, unable to stop the soft smile appearing on his face as he took her in. There was just something about Lexie Grey – he couldn’t stop smiling at her. “It is. Thanks for bringing me out here.”

She leaned in and gently kissed his neck. “Anytime.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another day in the midst of the six weeks - maybe this talking and laughing is turning into something a little more serious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love thinking about the shift in their relationship that must have occurred during the six weeks that they couldn't sleep together - so of course I had to dedicate two chapters to it. :) Hope that you enjoy!

The six weeks went by faster than either of them expected it to. It helped that the hospital kept them so busy, of course, but they still managed to make plenty of time for each other outside of the hospital. On nights that they had off together, Lexie would usually bring over a movie and they'd either order some room service or she'd bring takeout, and they'd spend the night talking and watching movies and kissing. They'd been to Meredith's a few times, but there wasn't much to do in the attic, unless they felt like going through the boxes up there. Plus the revolving door of inhabitants made Mark nervous – he was never sure who he'd have to sneak past when leaving.

At the five-week point, they somehow had a whole weekend off together. They barely knew what to do with themselves. They'd started the weekend off with a trip back to the diner that they had visited previously and then Lexie suggested a trip to the beach.

"There are beaches in Seattle?" Mark asked incredulously.

Lexie giggled and nodded, chewing her bite of pancakes thoroughly before answering. "Of course there are. We're a coastal state, Mark. The ocean is right there."

"But beaches are…sunny. Seattle isn't sunny."

She shrugged. "It's fun! They're not like California beaches, but they're great. We could go walk around…dip our toes in the water. They're usually pretty packed in the summer, but they're probably pretty empty right now since it's…cold."

"Damn, so that means you won't be wearing a bikini?" Mark asked, leering at her playfully.

Lexie reached across the table and shoved at his shoulder, giggling again. "You're ridiculous." Mark just nodded, conceding the point.

They'd driven out to the beach that Lexie recommended and got out to walk around. Almost as soon as they started walking, Lexie had grabbed Mark's hand. He looked down at their hands and then looked up at her. Lexie just grinned. Mark grinned back and readjusted his grip so that their fingers were threaded together.

When he did that, Lexie stopped walking abruptly and rose up on her tip-toes, gently kissing him. It was a quick kiss, over in a second, and they kept on walking – Mark couldn't help but grin as he listened to Lexie ramble about all the dumb things her friends had done on this beach when they were in high school.

"We should go in the water," she said, pulling him further from the path they were on, into the sand and towards the water.

"Lex, it's like 50 degrees out right now. That water is going to be frigid."

"Just our toes. C'mon. Live a little, Mark!" Lexie said, giggling as she continued to pull him towards the water. When they were a few feet away, she sat down in the sand and went to work taking off her shoes and socks and rolling up her jeans to her knees. She looked up at Mark expectantly until he dropped to the sand and followed suit.

They left their shoes in the sand, confident that they'd be safe on the nearly empty beach, and walked out towards the water. Lexie squealed as a wave came up and covered their feet, lapping at their ankles before retreating.

"Jesus Lex, that's freezing! Why'd I let you talk me into this?"

She grinned and turned to him, her palms resting on his chest as she went up on her tip-toes and nuzzled her nose against his. "Because you like me, Mark Sloan. You can't deny me anything."

"Oh really? That's what you think?" He winced as another wave lapped at their feet.

Lexie grinned and giggled. "Mhm. I do. I broke your penis, Mark, and you're still hanging around with me. You must like me."

His hand cupped her cheek and he drew her close for a brief, but passionate kiss. When they broke apart, he couldn't help but smile at the dazed look on her face. "I told you, it's not worth it to kick you to the curb while I'm out of commission."

"Yeah, that's the only reason."

"Yep," he murmured, leaning down to kiss her again. "The only reason," he whispered against her jaw. "Nothing else." He pressed a kiss to a spot just below her ear and then moved down to her neck. "But you, you on the other hand have it bad for me."

"Is that so?" she whispered, her hands bracing themselves on his biceps as he kissed her neck. The water was still at their ankles, but they'd gotten used to the chill.

"My best feature is down for the count right now and you're still hanging around," he whispered. " _You've_ got it bad."

Lexie pushed at him slightly, just enough so she could look at him. Mark was grinning, but the grin faded as he took in Lexie's serious expression. "It's not your best feature, Mark," she murmured seriously.

"Lex, I was kidding."

She shook her head. "I don't think you were. I just want you to know…it's not your best feature. You're an amazing surgeon; you're funny; you're smart; you're ambitious. You can be really kind. You're a great teacher…when you want to be." She pressed a gentle kiss to his lips. "Don't sell yourself short, Mark. You're an amazing guy."

For once in his life, Mark Sloan was speechless. He'd always been second choice, the fall back guy, the one that women came to for a quick fuck and then moved on with their real lives. Even Callie, who was probably his best friend after Derek, tended to use him as a human dildo more often than not. He'd never come first for anyone. No one had ever thought that he was amazing.

Unable to come up with a smart retort, Mark simply leaned in and kissed Lexie, pouring all his unvoiced emotion into the kiss. When they broke apart, Lexie's hands came up to his cheeks, stroking at his stubbled skin as she grinned brightly at him. She leaned forward and just brushed her lips against his once more, before finally moving back just a little bit. "We should get out before our feet fall off. This water is freezing."

Mark chuckled and nodded. Lexie's hands fell from his face and he immediately grabbed one, lacing their fingers together as they walked back towards their shoes.

* * *

When they got back in the car, Lexie guided him back to Seattle via all the old backroads that she used to take when she was younger. They were winding through a neighborhood as she pointed out her elementary school and the park she used to play at, when she got quiet and asked Mark to pull over.

"That's my house. Dad still lives there…his car is gone so he's probably either out buying booze or getting wasted at a bar."

Mark twisted in his seat to face her, his hand coming up to rub at her shoulder. "My mom would be so disappointed in me," Lexie whispered, tears welling up in her eyes. "I can't take care of him; I can't get him to stop drinking…I haven't seen him in three months, Mark." She sniffled and wiped at her cheeks as Mark continued to rub her shoulder. "The last time I saw him, I was pouring a bottle of scotch down the drain and he got so mad at me that he threw a glass at the wall. I haven't…I haven't been back there since."

"Lex, you can't blame yourself for your dad's bad decisions."

"But I should be able to help him! I'm a surgeon, that's what I do, I fix things." She gave him a watery smile, still wiping at her tear-stained cheeks. "Sorry. I didn't think…I didn't think I'd get this upset. It's just…seeing his car gone. I worry about him. I'm so scared that one day he's going to end up back in our E.R. after driving drunk and I feel so guilty for abandoning him…but I can't deal with him and try and be a good doctor. I can't." She sniffled and shook her head. "Sorry. Sorry for turning all weepy on you. This isn't how I wanted this day to end."

"It's all right, Lex." He leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead. "Do you…want to go inside? Maybe his car is just in the garage."

Lexie shook her head. "No, no. I…I want to go back home." Mark nodded and turned back, starting up the car again.

They were quiet as Mark maneuvered the car back to the main roads and onto the highway. Lexie was gazing out the window, barely paying attention to their surroundings, until she noticed him pass the exit that he usually took for the Archfield. "Where are you going?"

"You said you wanted to go home, so I'm taking you back to Meredith's." He glanced over at her. "What, did you think I was kidnapping you or something?" he teased.

Lexie couldn't help but blush, feeling grateful that the car was dark and Mark was focused on the road. When she'd said that she wanted to go home, she realized that she'd meant she wanted to go back to the Archfield with him. But there was no way of telling him that now. "Will you sneak in with me? Derek and Mer are on call tonight. Alex, Izzie, sand Sadie will probably be at the hospital too. It should be pretty easy."

She watched as he grinned. "Yeah. We can stay there tonight." She breathed a soft sigh of relief and turned back to the window, watching the Seattle skyline pass by. When they pulled into Meredith's neighborhood, they did a cursory drive-by the house and breathed a sigh of relief when it was completely dark. Mark headed to his usual parking spot two blocks away and they walked back to the house together in a comfortable silence.

It was nice to not have to rush up to the attic when they got inside. Lexie grabbed some snacks and drinks for them, and Mark used the bathroom before they headed up to her room. He couldn't help but grin as Lexie started to strip out of her clothes – it reminded him of their first night together. But instead of looking at him with those big doe eyes, begging him to teach her, she simply threw on a t-shirt and pair of pajama shorts and sat down heavily on the bed beside him. She cuddled against him and he slung an arm over her shoulders, pulling her in close.

"Thank you for spending the day with me today, Mark. I really did have a good time," she whispered.

"I did too, Lex. It's fun to see the city through your eyes…I hated it when I first came here but…it's growing on me."

Lexie grinned up at him, before resting her head on his chest again. "What do you want to do tomorrow? I'm not used to having two days off in a row. It's weird."

Mark nodded and made a vague noise of agreement. Lexie looked up at him, biting her lip nervously. "You don't…we don't have to do anything. If you don't want to. We don't have to spend the day together again."

"Do you not want to? You getting tired of me, Grey?" he asked, pretending to be wounded.

She shook her head and smiled. "No! No…I just thought…you must have better things to do than just hang out with me all day."

Mark shrugged. "Believe it or not, Lexie, it's not like I have a lot of hobbies. The closest thing was sleeping around with whatever woman caught my eye and well…that's not an option now for multiple reasons." She gently slapped his chest and he laughed. But then she started absently stroking his chest and he could tell that something was on her mind.

"We are…exclusive, aren't we?" she murmured softly, not daring to look up at him as she asked.

"You sleeping with someone behind my back, Little Grey?" Mark teased, pinching her side and she yelped, shaking her head.

"No! No, of course not!"

"Me neither," he murmured, nuzzling against her shoulder and placing a gentle kiss against her neck. "There hasn't been anyone else since you asked me to teach you. Not taking on any more pupils."

She grinned up at him and moved to gently kiss him. "Good. I don't want anyone else."

"Me either," Mark responded immediately, a bit to his own surprise. But it was true. After the whole Nurses Against Mark Sloan movement, he'd laid off sleeping around the hospital, sticking to picking up women without Seattle Grace IDs at Joe's. And then he'd stuck mostly with Callie and then…he realized he hadn't even really looked at other women since he'd first formed his strange friendship with Lexie. He repressed a groan. Maybe Derek had been right to warn him off of her.

"Still think I have unfortunate taste in men?" Lexie asked, a smirk on her face.

Mark chuckled and rubbed at his chin. "Well I can say it's improved a little bit, but not by much. I do have a bit of a reputation."

Lexie shrugged. "Doesn't matter."

Mark grinned down at her and tightened his arm around her. "Do you remember what you told that guy who came in with the limo crash? The one with the damaged vocal cords?"

She shook her head, her grin revealing her surprise at the question. "That was one of the first times we really worked together."

Mark nodded. "You told him that sometimes people make mistakes and sleep with the wrong people. But it's what comes next, where they try to make it right, that matters."

"I barely remember that conversation. And you definitely weren't the intended recipient."

"Well, I may have been eavesdropping," he said, craning his neck and lightly brushing a kiss across her lips. "And it made quite the impression on me. Even then when you were just Intern Grey – not even Little Grey yet."

"Just supports my theory that you have it bad for me, Sloan," she whispered, curling against him and turning her face up for another kiss. He chuckled and obliged her.

"Maybe I do."


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been six weeks, but the universe seems to be conspiring to keep Lexie and Mark out of bed. They talk instead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A slightly shorter chapter than the rest, but I really liked this one. I hope that you enjoy it as well! Have some more fun Slexie ideas that I'm working on...hope that you'll enjoy!

_LG: I miss you_

_MS: Miss you too_

He expected that to be the end of it, but suddenly his phone was flashing “Incoming Call” and Lexie’s number. “Hey.”

“You know I’m not doing this to punish you, right?”

He chuckled and settled back against the pillows on his bed. “It seems a little bit like a punishment, Lex. We haven’t had sex in six weeks, and you decide that now’s the time to throw down terms?”

She sighed. “That’s just it. It’s not…we’re not just sex. If we were just sex, then I wouldn’t mind but…we’re not. Are we?”

“No Lexie,” he murmured. “We’re not just sex. Of course we aren’t, you were right when you said that we’re in a relationship. And I get it, I do. I just…don’t know how to tell him. I tried…I tried to tell him tonight. Didn’t go over so well. He laughed at me, Lex.” He sighed, rubbing his hand over his face.

“He laughed at you? What do you mean?”

“I mean he laughed at me! I was trying to tell him that I was involved with you, that we were together but I was being vague and…he just laughed and told me I shouldn’t talk like that.”

Lexie was curled up in bed and she pressed the phone to her ear tightly. “What did you say?”

“I was just saying how nice it is when things aren’t just about sex. When you feel so strongly for someone and it’s just…true. I wanted him to see that I was happy before I told him who was making me happy and it just…” he trailed off, shaking his head, even though he knew she couldn’t see.

“Mark,” she whispered, and he could picture the soft smile on her face.

“He thought I was joking or something, I don’t know. He didn’t even think…he didn’t think it was possible that I could feel that way.”

“I’m sorry he doesn’t see you,” she murmured. Even at her sad tone, Mark couldn’t help but smile. That was the perfect way of putting it – Derek still could only see who Mark used to be, who he’d always known Mark to be. But he couldn’t see the man that he was now…the man that he was with Lexie. Only she could see that.

“I wish you were here,” he whispered.

“Meredith would notice if I snuck out now. Did I tell you that she asked me what was with us today? I thought for sure that she suspected something, but she was just suspicious that I’ve been on your service for over a week. Like she finally starts to notice I’m around and it’s the worst timing.” Lexie sighed and sat up again, curling her knees to her chest. “I’m afraid when I tell her about us she’s going to go back to being cold and distant Meredith. And I don’t want that either. But I want to tell her. I want her to know.”

“I get it, Lex. We’re happy…we should be able to be happy around people that mean something to us. I don’t want to give you high blood pressure.” She chuckled softly and Mark smiled at the sound. “Think I could sneak over there?”

Her laugh was lighter this time, less tinged with sadness. “I mean I think they’re all asleep right now, but we cannot have sex for the first time in six weeks in this attic, Mark.”

“What, you think that we’ll be a bit loud?”

“I know we will. Both of us! Not just me.” She grinned as she laid down on her back, her phone still pressed tightly to her ear. “You can’t sneak over here right now.”

“I could.”

“Mark! No more sneaking!”

“You’re really not going to sleep with me again until I tell him?”

She smirked before she answered. “I didn’t say that.”

“You did though. Sort of. Said that until we could be in a relationship in front of Derek and Meredith you couldn’t do it anymore…sounds pretty clear.” He didn’t know why he was belaboring the point. It’s not like he wanted it to be true.

“Mark…I’m not…withholding sex until you tell Derek. I’m just withholding sex tonight because Meredith is suddenly suspicious, and we cannot have sex in this attic as quietly as we would need to in order to keep it a secret. And I refuse to let that be the way that everyone finds out about us. Ok?”

He chuckled. “Ok. But all this sex talk is doing the exact opposite of what you’re trying to do. So I think I’m going to have to hang up now, Lex.”

“Ok.” She paused and then sighed. “I still miss you.”

“Miss you too.”

“See you tomorrow, Mark."

“Night, Lex. Sweet dreams,” he murmured and she giggled before hanging up.

* * *

Lexie closed the door to the on-call room and put her hands on her hips. “I know that this was your original plan, but we are not having sex for the first time in an on-call room!”

Mark chuckled and shifted on the bunk, patting the space in front of him. Lexie locked the door behind her and sat down. Mark wrapped an arm around her waist and nuzzled against her shoulder. “We could though. Don’t you want to celebrate your victory?”

Lexie sighed and leaned back against him. “Don’t make fun of me. That doomsday sucker saved a life! I saved a life, Mark!”

He flopped down on the bunk so that he was on his back, staring up at her. Lexie twisted, steadying herself with a hand on his hip. He smiled up at her. “I’m not making fun of you. I think it’s great that you got to scrub in. I’m proud of you, Lex.”

She leaned down and brushed a kiss against his lips. “Thanks.”

“I paged you because I wanted you to know that Addison knows. She figured us out. And she told Naomi. And Nai will probably tell Sam. But I told them that they couldn’t tell Derek. That he didn’t know yet and I needed to tell him myself.”

Lexie nodded. “Are you…ok? Are you ok with them knowing?”

Mark shrugged and then nodded. “It was kind of nice to be able to talk to someone about it. Someone who isn’t so….close to it. And it’s nice to have them around; we’ve been friends for a long time.” He paused, pushing a lock of hair back behind her ear that had fallen into her face. “They called you a preschooler.”

Lexie’s brow furrowed. “Ok that’s just…creepy.”

He chuckled. “Addison used to call Meredith a 12-year-old and since you’re her little sister…”

Lexie rolled her eyes. “I’m only a couple of years younger than she is. Come on.”

Mark smirked and buried his hand in her hair, urging her down to him for a kiss. Her hands braced herself on his chest and she sighed into his kiss. She pulled back after a few moments and he looked up at her with such softness in his eyes that she couldn’t help but lean down and steal another quick kiss. “I’m gonna tell him, Lex. I don’t want to keep you a secret. I’m not ashamed of you, of us.”

“I know. And I know that it’s complicated. I’m sorry that I’ve…messed this up for you.”

“Hey. You didn’t do anything.”

She grinned down at him. “I did though. I sort of got naked in your hotel room and begged you to sleep with me.”

He smirked. “I could’ve turned you down.”

Her eyebrow quirked up. “No, I don’t think you could have. You were undone. Totally seduced. I seduced the seducer. Me, the preschooler.”

Mark groaned and tugged her down for a kiss. “I get it, it’s creepy. Don’t say it again,” he muttered against her lips. His hands pulled her down further so that she was sprawled against his chest and they started to wander over her body.

Lexie broke the kiss and shook her head. “No. Not in the on-call room.”

“You’ve gotten so picky in six weeks,” Mark said, sighing. “No on-call room, no attic…only the hotel room will do?”

She grinned down at him. “I just know us. And I know that our first time having sex in six weeks will be…explosive. And we can’t have explosions at work or at Meredith’s house. We can’t.”

He smirked and nodded. “I know…I know. You’re right. But I want you, Lexie. I want you so bad…” His hands traced along her outer thigh, dragging up her side and brushing against her breast.

“Hotel. Tonight. See you later,” she murmured, dropping a quick kiss against his lips and then pushing herself up.

Mark groaned and pouted. “Fine. But this is edging on cruel, Lexie! Cruel!"

She stood up and shook her head. “You’ll live, I promise.”

* * *

Mark had just ordered champagne and some chocolate covered strawberries from room service when he saw Lexie’s number flash on his phone. “Hey, you here?”

“Mark, I’m sorry. I’m going to have to stay at the hospital tonight. Jen’s…I don’t know, something’s wrong still and Dr. Montgomery and Dr. Shepherd are here and I’m on Dr. Shepherd’s service and I can’t just leave…”

He couldn’t help but feel disappointed, but he understood. “Do you want me to come in? Keep you company?”

“No, that’s ok. I’m just going to catch a couple hours in the on-call room. And you need sleep after being so worried about your friend.”

Mark scoffed. “I wouldn’t call Archer a friend. He’s an ass.”

Lexie giggled and Mark could picture the soft smile on her face that probably accompanied it. “You call Derek an ass all the time too.”

“That’s different. Derek’s an ass but he’s got some good qualities. Archer’s just an ass.”

She sighed and Mark sat down on the bed, trying to tamp down his disappointment. “I’m really sorry, Mark. I promise I’m not doing it on purpose.”

“Lex, I don’t think you are. Don’t worry. I know you’re not like that. You’re not using sex as a weapon. We just have…bad timing.”

“Yeah,” she whispered.

“Go get some sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow, ok? And I’ll tell him. I swear. We can have celebratory, guilt-free sex in the hotel room. It’ll be great.”

She giggled and Mark felt a warmth in his chest at the sound. Oh yeah…he had it bad for Little Grey. “Ok. Sounds great. I’ll see you tomorrow. Night, Mark.”

“Night, Lex.” He sighed as he disconnected the call, tossing the phone to the side. He wondered if it was more pathetic to call room service and cancel his order or to eat all the strawberries and drink all the champagne by himself.


	6. Chapter 6 - 5x16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been six and a half weeks, and not even a fist fight can stop Mark and Lexie once they're back in his hotel room. Lexie is probably more concerned with icing his surgery hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one definitely took longer than expected, but I hope it's worth it! Fine line between smut and feelings. :) Love hearing what you guys think - it's been a rough couple of weeks and I can't tell you how much comments brighten my day! Happy reading!

"I'm sorry I wasn't there!" They'd been quiet as Lexie drove to the Archfield, which Mark thought was fine, but apparently Lexie had been stewing, since the words seemed to burst from her lips suddenly, like she'd been keeping them inside until she just couldn't anymore.

"That you weren't where?"

"On the bridge. After the fight. I didn't even know it was happening, I was down in the pit." Mark looked over at her, but Lexie was fully focused on the road, her hands gripping the steering wheel tightly.

"Lex, it's fine. It's not the first fight that I've been in, probably won't be the last. I can take care of myself."

"It's just…Meredith was there for Derek. I should have been there for you."

"Would you have stroked my hair again?" he teased, but Lexie didn't seem to find it funny. She just shook her head and frowned, still keeping her eyes solely on the road. "Hey, what is it?"

"I've just…never had anyone fight for me. Literally or figuratively. And Derek's your best friend and your hand isn't broken, but it's hurt and you're all beat up and…" She took a deep breath and then blew it out slowly. "I just don't know if I'm worth it, Mark."

"Hey," he reached over and stroked his hand along the back of her head. Lexie finally glanced over at him. "You're worth it, Lexie Grey." He leaned over and kissed her cheek. "You are worth it."

"You need to stop being so sweet right now because I'm driving and I don't want to crash the car when I lean over to kiss you." Mark chuckled and raised his hand, setting it back in his lap.

Lexie stayed tense as they made their way up to the room. Mark had grabbed her hand and intertwined their fingers together – it felt like she was holding on for dear life. When they got into the room, Lexie stood by the door as Mark moved inside, shedding his jacket and kicking off his shoes immediately, before pulling off his shirt with his left hand. Lexie toed off her shoes, but stayed near the door, until Mark finally turned to her. "Lex?"

"I'm sorry, Mark," she whispered, finally stepping forward. Her hands brushed against the bruises that were forming along his sides and then one hand moved up to his face, her fingertips brushing against his wounds there. "All I seem to do is hurt you," she whispered, leaning her forehead against his shoulder.

"Lexie, this was not on you. This was on Derek. And me. I could tell he was upset and I should have waited, but…I didn't want to disappoint you any more. I was so tired of hiding you." He cupped her cheek with his good hand. "None of this is on you."

"Oh Mark," she whispered, leaning into him and kissing him gently, mindful of the cut on his lip.

When they broke apart, Mark couldn't help but waggle his eyebrows at her. "You know…this is the first time I've had you in my hotel room since Hunt cleared me."

"Mark, you cannot be thinking about sex right now. We have to ice your hand! And you're all bruised and beat-up!" Lexie protested, breaking away from him and grabbing the ice bucket off of the desk.

"It's been six weeks and a half weeks, Lex. Of course I'm thinking about sex!" He moved to grab her elbow with his right hand and immediately hissed when he tried to hold onto her. "Ok, maybe I'm thinking a little bit less about sex now."

Lexie shook her head and opened the door. "I'll be right back. We're going to ice your hand tonight." She slipped out of the room and Mark sighed, turning to the bed and sitting down. Lexie was back in just a few seconds, the ice bucket filled to the brim. She took the little plastic bag out and tied it off, before walking over to him and placing it gently on his hand.

She sat down on the bed next to him and stroked her thumb against the bandage on his forehead.

"Lex, it really isn't that bad. The hand is the worst of it," he murmured, knowing what she was thinking as her fingers trailed over his face. He leaned forward, brushing his lips against hers in a gentle kiss. He paused, waiting for her reaction. Her fingers curled against the back of his neck, pulling him forward for a deeper kiss. Mark grinned against her lips and let himself just enjoy the feeling of her kissing him.

Her other hand dropped to his chest, her fingertips absently running across his skin. Mark groaned and did his best to pull her closer with his good hand, leaving his injured hand resting on the bed with the ice. "Are you sure?" she whispered when they broke apart.

Mark chuckled, his hand dropping to the hem of her shirt, tugging at it. "Have you ever known me to not be sure about wanting to have sex?"

Lexie laughed and shook her head, leaning back to tug her shirt off. She threw it over her shoulder and leaned into Mark again, stroking his cheek with the back of her fingers. "Other than that first night, no, you've always been very clear when it comes to sex." He smirked and leaned forward, capturing her lips.

His good hand ran up her torso, covering her breast over the material of her bra. "Oh Mark," she whispered as he gently squeezed her. "I've missed this."

"Me too, Lex," he replied. He grabbed the bag of ice off his hand and tossed it onto the night stand, before placing his injured hand on the small of her back. Lexie hissed when he touched her, and Mark couldn't help but smirk. "Sorry," he murmured, attempting to straighten his hand and press her forward.

He groaned softly in pain and dropped his hand back to the bed, before shaking his head. "You're going to have to be on top, Lex. This hand is useless."

She bit her lip and looked him nervously. "What's wrong?" he asked, reaching out with his left hand to cup her cheek. His thumb went to her bottom lip, pulling it away from her teeth and the pad of his thumb rubbed against where she'd left faint marks.

"It's just….that's how I hurt you. The last time I was on top, I hurt you. I can't hurt you again, Mark. Not when you're already hurt…"

He smiled, rubbing his thumb against her bottom lip again. "You're not gonna hurt me again, Lex. The last time was a total fluke – an accident. We have plenty of room to move around here and you're not confined to a little on-call room mattress. You won't hurt me again, Lexie. I trust you."

She shook her head. "What if that's a mistake?"

"It's not." Her gaze had lowered, so he tilted her head up and waiting until she looked at him again. "It's not a mistake, Lexie. You're not a mistake. I trust you. And the last six weeks and a half weeks have been…surprisingly great. If you had told me a year ago that I'd have this much fun with a girl without having sex with her, I'd have said you were crazy. But I did." His left hand came up to her cheek and he brushed the backs of his fingers against her cheek. "And how I feel about you…that's not going anywhere." His hand dropped from her face and wrapped around her waist, pulling her close. Lexie braced her hands on Mark's chest so she didn't topple onto him.

"But I've missed you, Lex. I've missed touching you like this. And I trust you. So will you please, please just take off your pants and get on top of me, Lexie? I trust you and I need you and I'm begging here."

She giggled and nodded, pressing herself up and standing up so she could undress fully. Mark stood as well, doing his best to get his pants off one-handed, until Lexie took some pity on him and helped. Once they were both naked, Mark sat back on the bed, shifting the pillows so that he could rest comfortably against the headboard. Lexie reached over him and grabbed the bag of ice and went over to the desk, setting it back in the ice bucket.

She turned back to him and climbed onto the bed, carefully straddling him. "You know, I've never heard something so sweet and so dirty at the same time."

"It's a part of my Sloan charm," Mark said with a smirk. His good hand snuck between her thighs, his fingers gently rubbing circles on her clit. His smirk only grew when he realized how wet she was already. It was clear that she was just as ready to break their accidental chastity vow as he was.

Lexie gasped and leaned down to kiss him. "Yeah, that sounds about right." She grinned against his lips as she kissed him again and his fingers continued to stroke her.

Mark moaned as Lexie leaned forward, her hands anchored on his shoulders and her breasts pressing against his chest. She grabbed his hand and pulled it away from her, instead rubbing herself against his cock and Mark's hips jerked up, nearly unseating her. His good hand grabbed at her hip tightly. "Lex, you're killing me. Please."

She smiled and reached down, stroking him lightly.

"You still sure that you're ok without a condom?" he murmured, gritting his teeth as her hand twisted as she got to the top of his cock. He could count on one hand the number of partners that he'd had sex with, without a condom. But after determining they were definitely exclusive, they'd both gotten tested and agreed that it could be ok to not use condoms all the time, depending on the reliability of Lexie's IUD.

Lexie nodded, shifting as she got him into position. "I'm sure. You sure?"

"Oh fuck yes," Mark panted, his hand on her hip tightening as he felt the tip of his cock brush against her wetness. "Lexie, please. Please, baby. Do it. Slide me inside you."

Lexie grinned as she pushed her hips back and slowly slid down on him. When he was only halfway inside her, she paused, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. Mark stroked her hip. "You ok, Lex?"

She grinned and lowered herself down some more, before opening her eyes to focus on Mark. "You just...you feel really good. And it's been six and a half weeks," she whispered, leaning forward to kiss him gently. She slid down further, finally taking all of him inside her. She let out a breath against his lips as they both stilled for a moment.

"You feel incredible, Lex. God, you feel so good," he whispered, and he felt her lips curl up in a smile. He ducked his head and pressed a kiss to her neck, as he moved his hand from her hip to her lower back. "It's been so long since I've done this without a condom. Fuck," he murmured, his hips flexing and pressing up against her.

"I don't think either of us is going to last very long," she murmured as she started to move, her breath already coming out in short pants.

Mark groaned. "It's hard to last when it feels this fucking good."

Lexie leaned forward, anchoring her hands on his shoulders. She kissed him desperately, grinning against his lips as they rocked together. "Your mouth is particularly filthy after six and a half weeks of no sex," she whispered.

He grinned, his left hand leaving her back and sliding down her front to where they were connected. He knew that he was already on the edge and was determined to get Lexie to come before he did. Lexie gasped and fell against his chest when his fingers found her clit, rubbing her just right.

She whimpered against his neck and Mark couldn't help thrusting his hips against her roughly at the sound. "Oh Mark," she whispered, rocking her hips in a way that had them both moaning.

"Come for me, Lexie. Wanna make you come first. C'mon, baby, just let go," Mark murmured against her, keeping his intense gaze on her as he continued to rub at her clit. He planted his feet on the mattress, giving himself some leverage to thrust against her. Lexie gasped, turning her head slightly so that she could kiss him desperately.

"Filthy," she whispered against his lips and he smirked at her.

"You like it."

She nodded. "Yeah, I do," she said, blushing. Mark chuckled and Lexie suddenly stiffened against him and cried out, falling against his chest and burying her face in his neck again as she moaned her release. Mark growled as he kept thrusting into her as she orgasmed, only holding back his own climax for just a little bit longer.

Lexie stayed collapsed against his chest and Mark grinned, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. He moved his hand from between her legs to her hip and then carefully placed his other hand on her back. "Mark," she whispered, "Mark, your hand."

"It's ok, Lex. It's not hurting right now." She grinned and snuggled against him for a few minutes longer.

When they both caught their breath, Lexie pressed a gentle kiss to his neck and moved back, carefully untangling herself from him. She managed to make it to the bathroom, trying to keep her dignity intact as much as possible. Mark tried not to chuckle as he watched her.

She came out a few minutes later and gestured awkwardly back to the bathroom. "All yours." He grinned as he got up off the bed and brushed past her, stopping briefly to kiss her. She smiled happily up at him.

When he came back out, she was dressed in a little pair of cotton shorts and a tank top. She was holding onto the ice bucket again and she grinned at him. "I'm getting you more ice. I will not be responsible for messing up your multi-million-dollar surgery hand. I'll be right back."

He managed to tug on a pair of boxers while she was gone and he took a seat on the small couch in the room, waiting for Lexie to return. He couldn't help but smile when she reentered the room and made her way over to him immediately. She sat next to him, gently grabbing his hand and placing the new bag of ice on it, before cuddling against his side and resting her head on his shoulder.

"I messed it up, Lex," Mark murmured. Lexie looked up at him curiously. "I should have told Derek when he was in a better mood. I found him in his office and I…I almost worked up the nerve. But then he thought that I wanted to sleep with Addison and it threw me off so badly that I just…I didn't."

Lexie was quiet for a moment, stroking her fingers over his abdomen. "He thought that you wanted Addison?"

Mark nodded. "I don't know why."

Lexie bit her lip and shrugged. "I mean…she's really beautiful, Mark. And you two have a history. It's not totally out of the realm of possibility, right?"

"Hey," Mark squeezed her shoulder. "It is out of the realm of possibility because I'm your boyfriend, Lexie. We're exclusive, remember…I only want to sleep with you."

"Your friends didn't believe it, did they? They think that I'm…some sort of mid-life crisis, don't they?" Lexie looked up at him, her brown eyes shuttered and trying to hide how she was really feeling…she wasn't successful. Mark could still read her like a book.

"They're good friends, Lex…I care about them. But…they don't know me anymore. It's been a long time since we've been a part of each other's lives." The hand that was on her shoulder moved to her chin, lifting it up so that she had to look at him. "You're not a midlife crisis, Lexie. You're…you're the only thing that makes sense, sometimes."

She grinned up at him, nestling closer to him and turning her face up for a kiss. When they broke apart, her grin turned mischievous. "You know, you've referred to yourself as my boyfriend a couple of times now. I don't remember ever labelling this, Mark."

He smirked and dropped his hand to her shoulder again, squeezing her teasingly. She tried to repress her shiver at his touch, but she wasn't quite successful, which only caused his smirk to grow. "I just got the shit beat out of me by my best friend and you let me come inside you – I think you'd better be my girlfriend, Grey."

Her face softened and she brushed her lips against the bandage on his forehead. "That's quite the requirement list for labelling the relationship. Usually just declaring ourselves exclusive is criteria enough – bloodshed and lack of condoms don't usually factor in."

"You're the one questioning it, not me," he murmured, leaning forward for a kiss that she gladly indulged him in.

"I'm not really questioning it, you know that, right? I'm just teasing."

Mark chuckled and stroked her cheek. "Never play poker, Lex."

She pouted playfully, nudging him. "Shut up."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For some reason, Mark and Lexie having sex without a condom is really important to me. It's come up multiple times in various fics that I've been working on. :P Is that weird? Maybe it's a little weird. But it seems like a big step for Mark and I just think that's important to highlight.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mark and Lexie both have their insecurities - but they can always put each other back together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Promise we'll get back to the steamy chapters in the next few - this is just a sweet filler chapter!

"Hey, I've been looking everywhere for you." Mark looked up as Lexie walked into his office and smiled softly at him.

"And my office is the last place you looked?"

She sat down in a chair across from his desk and smirked. "You're never in here. It took me a couple of minutes to even remember which floor you're on."

He smiled and looked back down at the chart he was looking over, jotting something down before closing it and looking up at her. "What's up, Lex?"

"I saw your name on the board. You're operating today?"

He held up his hand, flexing it for her to see. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Callie helped."

"Ah." She nodded and then pursed her lips. "You're going to be in a world of hurt tonight."

He chuckled, leaning back in his chair. "That's what Callie said."

"Because Callie's right." She got up and walked around to his side of the desk, leaning back against it to face him. She reached out for his hand, examining it and pressing a gentle kiss against his knuckles. "I'm going to end up feeding you dinner tonight like you're a toddler."

He chuckled and shook his head. She grinned at him, but then sighed, looking down at her feet. "Did you hear about how it went with Derek this morning? Meredith said that he just walked away. The Chief was yelling at him and he just…walked out. I really think that you should try and talk to him, Mark. You're his best friend. He'll listen to you."

Shaking his head, he scoffed. "Lex, I know Derek. And I know that he isn't going to listen to anyone who doesn't agree with him. Derek always thinks he's right, so anyone who disagrees with him is always wrong. He wouldn't listen to me, Lex. Believe me."

"But if you just tried-" she protested, but Mark cut her off. He pushed his chair back abruptly and stood up, stalking away from the desk.

"He won't listen to me, Lex. Why isn't anyone ever on my side here, huh? I'm the one trying over here. I'm trying to be the guy the Chief can rely on. I'm trying to be the guy that's worthy of the girl. Derek is the guy who's walking away! I am trying over here and no one seems to want to acknowledge that!" He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration.

Lexie pushed away from the desk, cautiously walking up to him. She placed her hand on his back softly, rubbing in gentle circles. "Hey. I'm on your side, Mark. Always." She stepped closer, feeling his heavy breathing under her hand. She pressed her forehead in the space between his shoulder blades and wrapped her arms around his stomach, pressing against him as she felt him calm. "And for the record, you don't have to do anything to be worthy of me, Mark."

He chuckled, sighing deeply as he placed his hands over hers. "I was hoping you would just ignore that part."

"Mark-" she moved around to his front, placing her hands on his chest. "The Chief knows he can trust you. He knows that you're the best. You wouldn't be here if you weren't. But if you do something stupid and permanently injure that hand…"

Mark shook his head. "Callie said it'd be fine. I'll just regret it tonight. But I'll get through today."

Lexie reached down for his hand again and brought it back up to her lips, brushing her lips over his knuckles again. "I'm still really sorry, Mark."

"Hey," he murmured, the fingers of his other hand went to her chin, tilting it up so she was looking up at him. "I've told you, Lex, it wasn't your fault. This wasn't about us. You know it wasn't."

"I know. But it wasn't…not about us either," she murmured. She bit her lip and then looked up at him, smiling softly. "I think we should go out after you're done with your surgeries. We don't have to hide anymore…we can go to that deli that you like. We should go get dinner when you're done."

He grinned. "You're willing to be seen out in public with me, Lex? Near the hospital? Now that I'm not your dirty little secret?"

She chuckled and shook her head, tugging at his scrub top. "Shut up. You know that I was the dirty little secret." He laughed and leaned forward, brushing his lips against hers.

When they broke apart, Lexie's finger jabbed against Mark's chest. "You have surgeries to prep for. And I need to get back to Dr. Stevens. She's having us walk through diagnosing a patient from start to finish today. I'm wondering where she got the case from…it's a doozy," she said, leaning into him for another quick kiss. "I'll meet you downstairs at the nurses station when you're done tonight."

He nodded and grabbed her close for one last kiss before she pushed him away with a giggle. "Go prep, Dr. Sloan. And if that hand starts to hurt too much, it's ok if you push some of your surgeries. You have to take care of yourself, Mark." Mark grinned as he watched her walk out of his office, indulging in the warmth in his chest at the thought of Lexie worrying over him.

* * *

Lexie couldn't help grinning up at him, as she stayed pressed against his side when they walked into the deli. They ordered and she sent him off for a table as she waited for their food. Mark hissed as he stretched out his hand again – Callie and Lexie were right…he was regretting his decision now. But he'd made it through the day, and that's what counted.

Lexie set their food down and he tried to cover up his grimace with a tight smile, but Lexie had already seen it. She shook her head. "I'm glad you got through your surgeries, but you're sort of an idiot, Mark."

He chuckled. Lexie pushed his food towards him and grabbed the bag of chips that she'd ordered, opening it and quickly grabbed a few. "I was worried about you all day. But I heard that your burn graft could make a grown man weep…if the grown man knew anything about burn grafts."

Mark took a bite of his sandwich and nodded, smiling at her. "It would have. I think I'm going to have to take tomorrow off though – can't take another day like today." He sighed, flexing his hand again slightly and wincing. Lexie reached across the table and gently grabbed his hand, smiling softly when he didn't hiss in pain this time. She brushed her lips across his knuckles, as she'd taken to doing so often. Mark couldn't help but smile. "So what was all that talk about the odds?"

Lexie shrugged. "It was that exercise that Izzie had for us. We had to diagnose Patient X from start to finish."

"I take it the prognosis wasn't good?"

She shook her head, taking a sip of her drink before continuing. "Metastatic melanoma. Mets on the liver, skin, and brain. 5% survival rate."

Mark winced. "Ouch."

Lexie nodded. "Yeah. But….odds are just numbers. The odds were that my mom would survive having the hiccups. She didn't. The odds are stacked against us but…here we are." She grinned softly at him and he returned it. "The odds were you couldn't get through your surgeries today, but you did. We can beat the odds."

Mark smiled at her. "Who knew you were such an optimist, Little Grey?"

Rolling her eyes, Lexie took another bite of her sandwich before replying. "If you didn't know that before, you weren't paying attention."

They continued to eat, with Mark telling Lexie all about his surgeries and Lexie telling him about Izzie's Patient X. There was a lull in the conversation and Lexie leaned back in her seat, regarding Mark with a soft smile. "What're you smiling about, Little Grey?" he teased.

"So I'm the one who put you back together?"

Mark grinned, leaning across the table to capture Lexie's lips in a soft kiss. "You are. I was a mess before you, Little Grey. But you make me feel stable. Steady. Like I'm on solid ground for the first time in a long time."

Lexie blushed and glanced down at her nearly empty plate, a soft smile playing at the corner of her mouth. Mark leaned forward again, hooking his good hand under her chin and gently tilting it up, so she would meet his gaze. "I mean it, Lex. You make me so happy."

She was the one to initiate the kiss this time. "You make me happy too, Mark."

* * *

They were back at the Archfield, getting ready for bed, when all of the sudden, Lexie got quiet. Mark glanced over at her as he got into bed beside her, running his hand over her hair. "Hey, Earth to Lex. What's up?"

She looked at him and smiled softly. "Did…did the Chief say anything to you? I mean everyone must know now. About us. I was just wondering if he said anything. I mean…you are my boss, Mark. And I heard the stories of the way that everyone treated Mer after it came out that she was dating Derek."

Mark made a face and shook his head. "No. He didn't say anything. Maybe he's just given up at this point. You and Mer and Cristina, hell, Karev too…there aren't really that many attendings left to sleep with." Lexie laughed and smacked her hand against his chest. "Are you worried?"

"About what happens now?" Mark nodded at her question. Lexie sighed and shrugged. "A little bit. I'm worried what everyone in my class will say. And the other residents. I mean they already think I'm insane for the whole thing with Sadie."

He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "You're good, Lex. They'll all see that you're good. I'm not going to give you preferential treatment because I'm sleeping with you - I want you on my cases because you're good. And we've kept it quiet for this long. We can still keep it quiet."

Lexie nodded, wrapping her arms around his waist and pressing a kiss to his shoulder. "Yeah. I like the idea of having you all to myself, Mark Sloan."


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Post face transplant celebrations. Lexie treats Mark like the plastics god he is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A chapter that definitely lives up to the rating. :) Sorry for the long wait - wanted to get a little bit ahead in this story before I posted the next chapter. Hope that you enjoy! The moment where Lexie kisses Mark in front of the other interns is probably one of my favorite moments ever.

They stumbled through the door to Mark's room and started stripping off their clothes, barely making it to the bed before they both fell asleep. The face transplant surgery was exhilarating, but exhausting – the procedure took nearly 22 hours. They took breaks of course, and had a team of surgeons, but since the case was Mark's baby, he'd barely left the OR. They slept for a full ten hours, completely oblivious to the outside world.

Lexie was the first to wake up, moaning softly as she looked at the clock on the nightstand. She had to be at the hospital in two hours and she knew that Mark wanted to check in on Dave today. She rolled over, nestling against Mark, trailing her hand lightly over his chest.

After such a grueling surgery, she knew that Mark would be a bit of a beast until he had at least two cappuccinos in him, but she knew there was a way to maybe curb some of his irritation before she woke him up. Her hand slipped beneath the covers and ran over his boxers, grinning as she felt his "morning" wood under her hand, even though it was actually 2pm.

She pressed herself closer and began lightly kissing his neck, as she gently stroked his cock over his boxers. She felt him start to stir under her ministrations and she grinned, kissing his shoulder as she slipped her hand underneath his boxers, lightly gripping him. She stroked him softly for a few minutes before he groaned and pried his eyes open.

"Could get used to this type of wake-up call, Lex," he murmured, his voice gravelly and delicious. Lexie grinned up at him and pressed a kiss to his shoulder as she gripped him tighter and picked up her pace. She kissed his shoulder again, before moving down to his chest and down to his stomach. Mark's head rolled on the pillow and his eyes clenched shut as he groaned and pressed into her touch. "Fuck," he groaned, his voice dragging over the word.

Lexie grinned up at him, before throwing aside the sheets, so she had unencumbered access to his lower half without getting tangled in the material. Her fingers hooked around the waistband of his boxers and she pulled them down, leaning back slightly as Mark helped kick them off. She bent down and kissed his left hipbone and then his right, her fingers wrapping around his cock again. He arched into her touch and she giggled and grinned up at him, lowering her mouth so that she could press a gentle kiss against the head of his erection.

"Thought you deserved a little treat after being so amazing," she murmured, licking the underside of his shaft as he groaned. "You're incredible, Mark. There's only a handful of people in the world who could pull off what you did. And I don't think any of them would do it half as well. You're amazing, babe," she whispered, before wrapping her lips around the head of his cock and taking him in her mouth.

Mark moaned and threaded his hands in her hair, trying hard not to guide her too forcefully, letting her work at her own pace. Lexie took him in deeper, humming around his length until he was moaning her name. She backed off slightly, licking around just the head as her hand came up to firmly stroke his shaft. "Lex, I need you," Mark moaned, tugging lightly on her hair in a bid for her move things along. But Lexie seemed content to stay right where she was.

"Patience, Dr. Sloan," she teased, sucking on the tip briefly like it was a lollipop. Mark groaned and his head fell back against the pillow with a soft 'thump.' "Let me treat you. Let me do this for you," she whispered, before taking him by surprise and relaxing her throat and taking him in further than she'd ever managed before.

"Fuck! Lexie!" Mark exclaimed, distantly glad that his body stiffened at her deep-throating him, instead of thrusting further into her mouth and gagging her. Lexie looked up at him, her eyes sparkling, as she hummed around his erection. One of Mark's hands flew to his face and he covered his eyes, moving his head back and forth. His other hand was clutching the sheets below him. Lexie moved off him slightly, just enough to breathe, before taking him in deep again.

This time Mark groaned and the hand that was covering his face moved back to her hair, and he tugged at the brown strands. "Baby, please. I need you, Lex. Stop teasing. I need to be inside you; I don't want to finish in your mouth."

Lexie slowly dragged her mouth up his shaft, pressing a parting kiss to the head, before grinning up at him. "What the plastics god wants, he shall receive," she teased, and Mark couldn't help but laugh. His hands moved to her hips and he tugged her over him, not satisfied until she was hovering over his cock. Lexie sank down on him slowly and they both sighed as she took him in. She leaned forward, bracing her hands on either side of his head, giving herself leverage to move.

They moved together desperately, as if there was a competition in who could make the other come first. Lexie gasped when Mark's thumb found her clit, rubbing her in just the right way. She grinned down at him and clenched her inner muscles, causing him to buck into her sharply. He stubbornly kept rubbing at her, but his other hand gripped her hip tightly. "Come on, Mark. Let go. Come for me," she whispered, leaning down and brushing her lips against his.

"That's my line, Lex," he replied, his hand moving to grip the back of her neck, keeping her close as he panted against her lips. She grinned and circled her hips in a way that made Mark groan. His grip tightened on her hip and held her in place as he slammed his hips up into her, moaning as he came. The hand on her hip moved to where they were joined and kept rubbing her. She fell against his chest as she followed him over the edge, whimpering against his neck.

Once they both caught their breath, Mark started chuckling, rubbing his hand over Lexie's back and nuzzling his face against her hair. "God, you are full of surprises, Lexie Grey. And I am loving all of them."

She grinned up at him. "So I've pleased the plastics god?"

"Mmm, yes, absolutely," he murmured, his hand tangling in her hair and turning her head just enough to capture her lips in a kiss. "Kissing me in front of the interns, waking me up with a blow job…you're spoiling me, Lexie."

She snuggled against him, pressing a soft kiss to his shoulder. "I was just so mad at them…you had done something amazing. Something absolutely incredible! You gave a man a new face, Mark! And all they could talk about was our personal life. It's ridiculous. You were a god in the OR yesterday and I was just so sick of them staring at us for all the wrong reasons. They don't know anything. They don't know us."

He grinned at her, his fingertips trailing up and down her spine. "You know, I'm used to people gossiping about me. It never used to bother me. But…I don't want them talking about you. It didn't bother me that they were looking at me…it bothered me that they were looking at you."

Lexie grinned and leaned down, kissing him deeply. "That's one of the sweetest things you've ever said, Mark Sloan."

"So I managed to impress you yesterday? I've been telling you that plastics is more than boob and nose jobs."

Lexie grinned. "I know it is! Of course you impressed me! Like I said, you were like a god in the OR. Three years, Mark! You planned for that surgery for three years and it showed! It went perfectly! No one else could have done what you did yesterday. You're so good, Mark." She pressed herself against him, capturing his lips in a soft kiss. "You're so damn good."

"I told you with Mrs. Patterson – with your surgeries you give people something. You've given Dave an entirely new lease on life. You've changed his entire world, Mark." She beamed at him and shook her head, cupping his cheek and leaning forward to kiss him. "You're incredible, Mark Sloan. I'm so proud of you. I'm so lucky that I get to work with you and learn from you. And it's a definite bonus that you're a pretty damn good boyfriend too."

Mark's signature smirk turned suddenly soft and shy almost, as his thumb stroked Lexie's cheek. "Yeah? You think I'm a good boyfriend, Little Grey?"

She grinned and nodded. "You are. And I am so glad that you're mine."


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mark learns about the five things that Lexie told Meredith in hopes that Meredith wouldn't hate her quite so much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a sweet little in-between chapter. I've been sad for months now that Lexie never got to be a bridesmaid in Mer's wedding. She was so excited about it. Hope that you're still enjoying these little snippets of Mark and Lexie cuteness. :)

When the game was over, Mark made his way up to the attic, sure that Lexie was waiting up for him. She was laying back in bed with a medical journal, but he could tell that she was only halfway paying attention to it. The second he walked through her door, the medical journal was down and Lexie was practically humming with energy. "So you and Derek are good now?"

"Yeah, we're good, Lex," he murmured, quickly undressing down to his boxers and climbing into bed with her.

"What happened?" she asked, snuggling against him.

"Saved our patient's life with my fast hands."

Lexie pursed her lips and fixed him with a look at his glib response. He chuckled and pressed a kiss to the top of her forehead. "And I told him how I felt. About you…about how he treats me. How I always feel like I'm just the charity case that his parents took in." She pressed a kiss against his chest, and he slung an arm around her shoulders, keeping her tightly pressed against his side. "I think he finally sees me, Lex. Not how you do…no one can see me the way you do. But I think…I think he's finally catching on."

Lexie looked up at him, beaming happily. "Good. I'm glad, Mark. I'm glad you guys have worked it out." But she still seemed to be vibrating with energy and Mark couldn't help but smile at her.

"Something you want to tell me, Little Grey?"

"Meredith said I'm a bridesmaid! She wants me to be a bridesmaid at her wedding! She just said it, like I should have expected it. I'm her sister and I'm in the wedding!"

Mark chuckled, leaning down to kiss her briefly. "Of course you are! Why wouldn't she want you up there?"

"Because she hated me, Mark! Meredith hated me for so long! But it worked, it finally worked, she doesn't hate me anymore and I doubt it was really because of the five things that I told her about but they probably helped and…she doesn't hate me anymore, Mark!"

"Babe, I don't think she really ever hated you."

Lexie shook her head. "No, she did. She hated me. Cristina said so and Meredith didn't deny it. But it doesn't even matter because she doesn't anymore!"

Mark chuckled and nodded. "Ok. Well I'm glad that she doesn't hate you anymore." He paused, looking down at her with his brow furrowed. "What five things are you talking about?"

She shook her head, blushing slightly. "Long story – it was from a case we were working together. And I told her five things that would make it harder for her to hate me. They were dumb…part of me hopes that she doesn't even remember them."

His fingers were lazily tracing up and down her spine and he smiled down at her. "So what were they? What five things did you share?"

Lexie shook her head again, pressing her face against Mark's shoulder. "They're so dumb, Mark."

His fingers dug into her side slightly, tickling her for just a moment before moving back to her lower back. "C'mon, Lex, tell me."

She sighed, moving away and flopping back on her back, staring up at the ceiling instead of at Mark. "Ok fine, I'll tell you, but you have to promise not to laugh at me. Too much. You can laugh a little."

He grinned and laid down beside her, propping himself up on his side as he looked down at her. "Promise I'll keep the laughing to a minimum."

Glaring playfully, she sighed. "You'd better."

She held up her hand and began ticking off the points on her fingers. "Uh, let's see…number one: I like math. Number two: I play the trombone. Badly, but I play it." His eyebrows raised and a smirk spread across his face. She glared slightly at him. "No laughing!"

He grinned and quickly wiped the mirthful look off his face, before nodding at her to continue. "Number three: I hate apples. Number four: I can draw really, really well on an etch-a-sketch. Like really well. And number five was that I do this thing with my hands when I'm trying to make a point and it's the same thing that Meredith does sometimes." She lowered her hand and looked up at him, an embarrassed smile on her face. "And those were the five things I told my sister to try and get her to hate me a little less. Pretty dumb."

Mark shook his head and leaned down to kiss her. "I didn't think they were dumb." She grinned up at him and watched as his brow furrowed slightly. "You hate apples?"

Lexie nodded. "Can't stand them. Don't think they should be allowed to be a fruit."

He chuckled. "But you always grab me an apple in the cafeteria when we eat together."

She shrugged. "Well I hate them, but I've noticed that you seem to love them. You're always eating them. So I grab you one."

He grinned, pressing a soft kiss to her lips. "You're sweet, Lexie Grey."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," she murmured, grinning up at him.

"You know, you and Meredith are a lot more alike than you think." Lexie's brow furrowed as she looked up at him, clearly waiting for him to explain. "I mean, most obvious is that you both hooked up with an attending your intern year."

Lexie laughed and blushed, burying her face in Mark's shoulder.

Mark continued. "You're both ridiculously stubborn and like to do things for yourself." Lexie nodded, unable to deny it. "I've even heard a story of Meredith breaking some guy's penis during her intern year."

Lexie's eyes grew wide and she shot up in bed, staring down at Mark. "WHAT?!"

Mark chuckled. "Yeah. It wasn't actually her fault though. I think there was a tumor on the guy's spine or something…caused a priapism. Shep had to fix it. Awkward as hell."

Lexie's eyes were still wide. "Seriously." She laid back down and then started laughing. "That's not exactly something that we can bond over though. Can you imagine me trying to bring it up over breakfast?"

Mark chuckled and shook his head. "Yeah, probably not something that would encourage a lasting sisterly bond. I'd say that you two are doing just fine with the way things are going now."

Lexie grinned as she snuggled deeper beside Mark. "I'm glad that you and Derek made up. I was really worried…I didn't want you to lose him over me."

Mark pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head. "I told you, Lex. It would have been worth it."

She shrugged. "Still. I'm glad it didn't come to that. And my ass is particularly glad that I won't be stress eating anymore."

Mark chuckled and teasingly reached down, grabbing a hold of her ass. "I don't mind."

Lexie glared up at him. "Well I do. I don't want to wear the scrubs with the elastic waistband."

"Your ass is still perfect, Lexie Grey. Meredith's just jealous."

Lexie laughed, moving so that she was lying on top of Mark's chest. "You're such a charmer, Mark Sloan," she murmured, brushing her lips against his.

"Guilty as charged," he replied, his hand pressing between her shoulder blades, keeping her in place above him. She grinned and kissed him again.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mark is nervous about meeting Lexie's dad. Three significant words are uttered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Needed a distraction, so I decided to edit this chapter and post it! It's one of my favorites of the whole story and one of the first ones that I wrote, actually! Really hope you enjoy and that this little bit of Slexie sweetness can maybe distract you from whatever you're worried about right now.

Mark spotted Derek across the hall at the nurses' station and tried to seem like he was just casually making his way over to his best friend. "Hey."

Derek looked up and grinned. "Hey." He looked back down at his charts, scribbling a few more notes.

Mark rubbed at his hand and sighed. Derek looked up at him again and narrowed his eyes. "What's wrong with you?"

"What do you know about Thatcher?" Mark blurted out. Derek chuckled and clicked his pen shut, tucking it away in his chest pocket and turning back to lean against the counter, examining the other man in front of him.

"Thatcher Grey?"

Mark nodded, twitchy but fully focused on Derek.

Derek shrugged. "He was a nice enough guy…but that was when Susan was alive. After she died…" Derek trailed off and Mark nodded, knowing what had happened between Meredith and Thatcher the day of Susan's funeral and knowing about his drinking as well. "He was always very nervous around Meredith, but obviously he would have had a really different relationship with Lexie." Derek's eyes narrowed again, and he examined Mark. "Why do you want to know?"

"Thatcher's here. He's sober."

Derek nodded and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Yeah, Meredith told me."

Mark took a deep breath, rubbing at his hand again. "Lexie wants me to go to dinner with them tonight. She really wants me to meet him."

Derek couldn't help it; he immediately started laughing. "Mark Sloan, meeting a father! That hasn't happened in…what, 20 years?"

"That's what I told her! Dads don't like me. Especially when I'm probably closer to their age than their daughter's." Mark immediately seemed to deflate in front of Derek and Derek tried to rein in his reaction. He sobered and took a moment to regroup.

"I'm sure that Lexie was really hurt by Thatcher's drinking," Derek said, and Mark nodded. "So it would be really big for her that he's stopped drinking. It would probably mean a lot to her for you to meet her dad when he's like this…when he's the man that she remembers."

Mark sighed deeply, clearly conflicted. Derek clapped him on the shoulder. "This is part of that new leaf you were always talking about. You've actually turned it, Mark. Part of being in a relationship with someone is sometimes prioritizing their needs. Doing something that's uncomfortable for you just to make them happy. This would make Lexie happy, wouldn't it?"

Mark didn't reply verbally, but he nodded, still deep in thought. "I think you know what you should do, man," Derek said, moving away from him. "And make sure you don't wear that leather jacket! You want to look respectable, not like a whore!"

Mark chuckled slightly and nodded, turning and making his way down the opposite hallway, still deep in thought.

* * *

After dinner, they went back to the Archfield. They stumbled into Mark's room, kissing passionately, as Lexie pushed Mark towards the bed. "I think you deserve a big thank you for showing up tonight," she whispered, her hands going to his belt buckle, her nimble surgeon's fingers making quick work of it and dropping the belt to the ground.

"I didn't do it for some gratitude sex, Lex," he murmured. "I did it for you. To make you happy."

She bit her lip and smiled brightly up at him. "Well mission accomplished, Sloan." She kissed him, her hands pushing his jacket off his shoulders and down to the floor. When they broke apart, he smiled at her as he unbuttoned his shirt cuffs.

Lexie leaned forward for another kiss. "I love you," she murmured against his lips.

Her eyes went wide as she realized what she said, and she practically jumped back from him. Her hand flew up to cover her mouth. "Oh my god. I just…I didn't mean to say that…out loud. I've been thinking it for a while but I didn't…oh my god. I was thinking it in my head and then it came out and I didn't mean for it to!"

"Hey, hey," he murmured, his hands coming up and rubbing at her shoulders. He smiled at her. "I love you too, Lexie."

Her eyes grew wide. "Really?"

"Really. Why else would I meet your dad?" He grinned at her and she giggled, stepping forward and wrapping her arms around his waist. "Do you know how terrifying that was for me? Terrifying, Grey. I'd rather get in ten more fights with Derek than have to meet your dad for the first time again!"

Lexie laughed; her face buried in his neck. "You're ridiculous," she murmured, brushing her lips against his pulse. "My dad wouldn't hurt a fly. When he's sober anyway. Which he is now! He's like the least intimidating person ever."

Mark chuckled and shook his head. "You don't get it, do you? He's your dad, Lex. I'm sleeping with you, with his little girl. I'm sure he wants to rip my throat out."

"He doesn't. I promise. He's never been like that with my boyfriends."

"Does he know anything about me? About…my past?"

She pursed her lips. "No. And he doesn't have to. Mark…I love you." She couldn't help the soft smile that spread over her face as she said it, paired with the goofy grin on his face. "And your past…it doesn't matter – to me, and by extension, to my dad. What matters is right now. Our present. And how you feel and treat me now. And tonight…tonight when I saw you standing at our table…I've never been happier."

"Yeah?"

"Yes. You make me so happy, Mark Sloan." She stroked the back of his neck and he lowered his head, so that his forehead rested against hers. "I love you."

"I love you too, Lexie Grey." Lexie giggled at hearing the words from him again. He pressed forward and captured her lips, mid-giggle, and she couldn't help but smile against his lips. She felt his hands go to the belt of her dress, quickly untying it and slipping his hands inside when the dress fell open. "God, so much easier access than scrubs," he murmured against her lips and Lexie giggled again, shrugging the dress off.

"I thought you'd like it."

"So you knew I'd show up?"

She smiled softly up at him. "I had hoped." Her fingers interlaced on the back of his neck, and she tugged his head down for another kiss. "I had hoped that you were just as crazy about me as I was about you. I hoped that you would do the crazy thing and meet my dad."

He pushed a lock of hair behind her ear as he smiled down at her. "All I wanna do is make you happy, Lexie Grey."

"Like I said before, Mark…mission accomplished." She went up on her tip toes, gently kissing him again. Her fingers went to the buttons on his shirt, slowly unbuttoning it as they continued to kiss. When they finally broke apart, Lexie tugged his shirt from his pants, unbuttoning the last few buttons and pushing it off his shoulders. She rubbed her hands over his chest, just indulging in touching him, and she smiled up at him. "Make love to me, Mark Sloan."

"Happily," he murmured. He bent slightly and grabbed Lexie in a bridal carry and she giggled wildly, wrapping her arms around his neck. He set her down on the bed and grinned down at her as she tugged teasingly at the waistband of his pants.

They both undressed fully, and Mark joined her in the bed, smiling up at her as she straddled him. His hands went to her hips, his thumbs stroked at her soft skin. "Thank you," he murmured.

Her eyes narrowed and she tilted her head to the side, her hair falling in front of her face. "For what?"

He pushed her hair back so he could see her face, smiling softly up at her. "For giving me a chance. For trusting me." He cupped her cheek and urged her down for a gentle kiss. "For loving me, no matter what I've done in the past."

She grinned and kissed him again briefly, before nuzzling her nose against him. "Thanks for not kicking the crazy cutter intern out of your hotel room that first night. Thank you for trusting me." She stroked his hair gently and she gazed at him adoringly. "I love you."

"I don't think I'm ever going to get tired of hearing that," he confessed.

Lexie grinned. "Well good, because I don't think I'm ever going to get tired of saying it. I love you, Mark Sloan."

"I love you so much, Lexie Grey."


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexie explains why she's so hesitant to move in with Mark. Mark helps Lexie through her grief.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Latest chapter! Right now there's only two more chapters of this story that I have written out, but I definitely still have some more Slexie stories up my sleeve - including a cheesy holiday romance! Will be working on that this week, in addition to the next chapter of "In a Better Light."
> 
> I always thought it was sort of interesting that the first real fight we see Mark and Lexie have never had any sort of resolution. One minute Mark isn't talking to her and the next they're just walking the hallway together like nothing happened. So here's me trying to give some us all some resolution. Hope that you all enjoy!

Lexie finally tracked Mark down in one of the on-call rooms. He was being particularly difficult to find and she knew that he was pouting. She slipped inside and flipped the lock, before folding her arms across her chest. "Mark."

He was lying on one of the beds, his hands under his head, looking like he didn't have a care in the world. He refused to look at her, keeping his eyes on the ceiling. "I'm leaning towards the 3 bedroom, rather than 4, because I like the wraparound porch."

Lexie sighed and shook her head. "Mark, will you stop it? Just for a second! Just…hear me out." He finally looked at her as she moved towards him, standing over him, wringing her hands. "I…I lose myself, in relationships. I try and mold myself into someone that I think will make my partner want to stay. Even when they're not my partner! I…give myself up. For whoever I have feelings for." She sat down on the bed and tried to suppress her smile when Mark instinctively moved over to give her space.

"It started when I was fifteen and I had a crush on Patrick Davis and I let my friend Stacie pierce my nose at a sleepover because he was punk and I thought that was punk too. And then it got infected and let me tell you what is not punk – a gross, infected nose. I lose myself when I like someone and I know that's not healthy. Or sustainable."

She took a deep breath and reached out to him, hoping he wouldn't stop her. She rested her hand on his arm and waited for a second to see if he'd shake her off. She smiled when he didn't. "I…want you to stick around. I want this to be healthy and sustainable. And I can't….give up things that I want, things that define me, to try and make you happy. Because once I start giving, I won't know when to stop. And that's a me thing, it's not a you thing."

Mark finally looked at her and Lexie felt the knot in her stomach start to loosen. "You make me happy, Mark. You make me so happy. And asking me to move in with you…I want that. Eventually. I do. And the other thing you mentioned-" Mark couldn't help but flush with embarrassment and look away when she mentioned his roundabout proposal-"I think I want that too. Someday. But you're…you can overwhelm me, if I let you. And that's not to say that you wouldn't make me happy. Part of me is screaming to just jump in and say yes and let you overwhelm me. But I know…I know it's not good for me. For us. And I want things to be good for us, Mark."

His jaw tightened and Lexie held her breath, watching him intently. A soft smile appeared on his lips and he nodded. "Ok."

Lexie smiled softly, scooting closer to him. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," he replied, his hand reaching out and reaching across her lap to her hip, keeping her in place against him. "But I think we need to be willing to compromise. I don't think this is something we can just discuss this once and then truly table it for five years. I know we're at different stages in our lives but…I want to put down roots, Lexie. With you. I love you."

She grinned, the words still new enough on his lips that the reaction was instinctual. "I love you too. And I'm open to discussion. I know that this…it might not be easy. But we both want to make it work. And it is…it's good, seeing Meredith and Derek. It…makes me think about the plans I always had and how maybe they can change." She leaned down, her hands on either side of his head as she hovered above him, looking down at him with a serious look on her face. "So are we good? Are you not mad at me anymore?"

Mark chuckled and pressed a hand against her back, urging her to sprawl against his chest. "We're good, Little Grey."

Lexie beamed happily at him, her fingers ticking at the hollow of his throat. "And…for what it's worth, I like the idea of a stone fireplace too." He smiled at her as she leaned forward to give him a soft kiss.

* * *

Lexie didn't even have to ask him to stay with her when he drove her home after George's funeral. He parked the car outside the house and immediately stepped out, gripping her hand tightly as they went inside. They were the only ones there and normally they'd take advantage of the empty house and make out on the couch as they watched a movie, but Mark knew that Lexie would never go for it, even if it would take her mind off of her grief.

So he kept a hold of her hand and led her up to the attic. He turned to her once they got to her room and wrapped his hand around her waist, pulling her close and cradling her against his chest. She wasn't crying, but her breathing was shallow, and her fingers were gripping the front of his shirt like she'd drift away if she let go. "I'm going to unzip your dress, Lex. You'll be more comfortable once you're out of it," he murmured.

She nodded; her face pressed against his neck. His hands went to her back and carefully unzipped her dress and then pulled the sleeves from her shoulders. He let it pool around her feet, before moving to her drawers and pulling out her usual pajamas. He glanced over at her and noticed that she'd bent down to pick up her dress, draping it over her arm and stroking the material gently.

Mark held out her pajamas and Lexie handed her dress over to him before taking the proffered change of clothes. He turned to her closet and grabbed a hanger, hanging the dress up again. He made a mental note to grab the dress before he left the next morning – he'd throw it in with his dry cleaning at the hotel. When he turned back around, Lexie was still standing in the middle of the room but was now in her pajamas.

She looked up at him, her eyes soft and sad and lost. He pulled his shirt over his head and unbuttoned his jeans, stripping down to his boxers quickly and then he held out his hand to Lexie. She immediately placed her hand in his and he led her over to her bed, laying down first and then smiling softly as Lexie followed him down, cuddling against his chest immediately.

His hand stroked up and down her spine, soothing her as she rubbed her cheek against his chest absently. "I'm not good at this, Lex," he whispered. "I make inappropriate jokes. I try and distract with sex. I'm not good at this."

She draped her arm around his stomach and pressed her lips against the bare skin of his shoulder. "You're perfect, Mark. You're doing exactly what I need you to do."

"Yeah?" he asked tentatively.

Glancing up at him, she smiled softly and nodded. "Yeah. I just need this right now. I need you to hold me."

He pressed a kiss against the top of her head, and she made a soft sound, snuggling against him even tighter. "I can do that, Lexie. For however long you need."

He felt her smile against his shoulder, and she shifted slightly, brushing her lips across his neck in a gentle kiss. "I love you, Mark Sloan."

"Love you too, Lex."

They were silent for a few minutes and Mark thought that maybe Lexie had fallen asleep, until she shifted against him, craning her neck slightly so she looked up at him. "Mark?"

"Yeah, baby?"

She smiled, her hand rubbing against his stomach. "I have Tuesday off. If you still want to go look at houses…I could come. "

His eyes widened and he looked down at her questioningly. She shrugged. "I haven't changed my mind. But…I'll be spending time there. And it's important to you, so…I want to be there. If you want me there."

Mark nodded, tightening his grip on her shoulders briefly before relaxing again. "Yeah. I'd like that, Lex. We can line up a few showings. I definitely want you there with me."


End file.
